Director
Alice Winocour

Starring
Eva Green, Zélie Boulant, Matt Dillon, Aleksey Fateev, Lars Eidinger and Sandra Hüller

Former Bond girl and French actress and model Eva Green (Casino Royale, TV series Penny Dreadful) has appeared in 19 films to date in her career. She has (arguably) never been better than this!

Speaking an impressive total of four languages throughout Proxima, a wholly immersive science-fiction drama, Eva Green is Sarah, an excellent engineer and Astronaut who prepares for a mission to the International Space Station. Throughout her preparations, Sarah must undergo rigorous training protocols and various tests that will officially prove she has the physical capacity to fulfil her dream of going to space. As intended, these endurance-sapping formalities sometimes test her limits and push her boundaries, but Sarah’s real challenge is leaving behind her young daughter, Stella (Zélie Boulant).

There may be a film or films out there, but I cannot recall any movie I’ve seen that chronicles an Astronauts entire preparations for going to space, particularly in the captivating detail shown here. Even if such a film does exist, I highly doubt its protagonist is a female and a mother. These components alone supply Proxima with an abundance of striking originality that had a gravitational pull over my attention. Sarah isn’t traveling to the ISS solo, however, and will be accompanied by two colleagues – an American, Mike (Matt Dillon) and a Russian, Anton (Aleksey Fateev). As her job is situated in a male-dominated world, Sarah is occasionally subjected to sexist criticisms by her American counterpart, which undoubtedly represents real-life experiences. This is a film inspired by and devoted to female Astronauts and the great sacrifices they face, led by an outstanding Eva Green.

Now, I really don’t want to end my review of Proxima on a less desirable note because it honestly does deserve to be seen, so I’ll mention this now. A critical development late into the film heavily bruises an aspect of the film’s plausibility. Why am I mentioning this? Ordinarily, I wouldn’t stick with the rating I stubbornly refuse to move from for this film. Also, because I’d like you to arrive with the fair-mindedness to allow Proxima’s many pros to outweigh its single con.

Finally, a sizeable volume of the films narrative consists of email correspondence written by Sarah to her daughter. These readings invest intimacy into the picture and together with the story’s originality and Eva Green’s career-best work, produce a very human science-fiction drama I felt connected to.

4 stars

Viewer Discretion
M (Coarse language and nudity)

Trailer
Proxima

Moviedoc thanks Madman for providing the screener link to watch and review this film.

Proxima is available digitally from June 3 and DVD from June 8.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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