Elon Musk just announced that his company SpaceX will launch a manned mission to Mars by 2024. What was once the stuff of science fiction fantasy is rapidly becoming reality. How many more films like The Martian, Moon, Europa Report or Mark Elijah Rosenberg’s Approaching the Unknown do we have in our future? More than ever before, these films are judged by their accuracy and believability, because the science is very much real. Failing that, the best lesser sci-fi films have to offer is decent production values and a novel context for existential philosophizing. That is the crux of writer and first time director Rosenberg’s film, but it goes little further than expressing humanity’s overwhelming awe at the expanse of the universe, ultimately coming across as a film that rings hollow.
Approaching the Unknown‘s first manned mission to Mars is helmed by Captain William Stanaforth (Mark Strong), a single-minded astronautical engineer who initially seems more focused on completing a cut-and-dry mission than waxing poetic. Following behind by three weeks is Captain Emily Maddox (Sanaa Lathan), and together the two will lay the foundations for a permanent settlement on Mars. But the film is very much focused on Stanaforth and the challenges of his 270-day solo trek to the Red Planet, his only human contact being with “Skinny” (Luke Wilson), his NASA liaison in Houston. His first priorities are to start growing various fruits and vegetables on the shuttle and periodically tweak his water reactor. That is the key to the entire mission’s success; Stanaforth designed a machine that would break down dirt and use its hydrogen and oxygen to make H2O. Without that source of renewable water, any colony on Mars and prolonged survival in space is impossible. Naturally, that engineering marvel doesn’t go off without a hitch.
Rosenberg goes out of his way to establish Stanaforth’s engineering prowess. The washed out flashbacks that show the invention of the reactor depict a man so intent on success that he is willing to stake his life on it, going out into the desert with no water as a means of forcing himself to find a solution in order to survive. He is exactly the kind of determined problem-solver one would want on Mars. When Captain Maddox drifts off course, Stanaforth guides her through the steps of his unconventional solution, against NASA’s wishes. He’s not just a maverick; he’s a rogue. And that rogue sensibility is what derails his mission. Turns out, his fix for Captain Maddox was only temporary, and she is being turned around and her leg of the mission scrapped for now. But when Stanaforth experiences similar problems and his reactor royally malfunctions, not only is he reluctant to tell command, he resolves to complete the mission anyway.
This is where Rosenberg gets existential. Even given a window for NASA to turn him around, Stanaforth doesn’t see the value in giving up now to try again later. In his mind, he launched himself into space to strive for something that’s never been done before. And backing down isn’t an option. All but guaranteed to die on Mars, Stanaforth philosophizes “I can’t turn back. Even if the machines don’t work. I know what waits for me on Earth. But not out there.” From NASA’s point of view, it’s certainly a selfish decision, and Stanaforth’s desire to be “ripped apart by space – overwhelmed” comes across as strangely out of character. The film provides no motivation for his suicidal resolve or his severe aversion to returning to Earth. In fact, we know absolutely nothing about his past or personal life.
The weight of Stanaforth’s sacrifice is undermined in large part by Rosenberg’s pacing. Whereas films like Moon use the sensation of endless time to their benefit and to heighten the psychological effect of being alone in space, there’s no indication here of how much time passes between these damning malfunctions. And, up until Captain Maddox’s unresolvable course problems, any hiccup in Stanaforth’s journey was imminently— even easily—fixable. Part of that is due to Rosenberg and Strong’s portrayal of Stanaforth as unflusterable and cool-headed in a crisis. Even when facing the unknown, his own confidence (albeit seriously unwarranted) allows him the gall to say “Nothing has ever lived here. Nothing has ever died here. Maybe I’ll live forever.” But what that line truly reflects is the empty pseudo-existentialism of Rosenberg’s script.
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