“Life in space is impossible.” So reads the opening title card to Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón’s space parable about a pair of American astronauts set adrift after their shuttle is catastrophically damaged by debris from a destroyed satellite.

Chronicling their diminishing chance of survival in riveting detail, Gravity is a technical marvel that pairs the very latest in CGI with Cuarón’s mastery of the tracking shot to create one of the most immersive cinematic experiences in recent memory.

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski, respectively, who are not only physically untethered from any means of rescue, but also communicatively. Having to hail Houston “in the blind,” Stone and Kowalski become each other’s sole human connection as they skirt the Earth’s atmosphere, effectively a world away from life as we know it.

Bullock is good here as Stone who herself is spiritually drifting due to a personal tragedy, establishing her as the emotional core of the film. Clooney, however, doesn’t serve much more than a supporting role as the veteran mission Commander Kowalski, buoying Stone’s resolve in her most desperate moments and perhaps overstaying his welcome when the film delivers too heavily on its grand thematic promises.
Cuarón’s dazzling portrayal of the immensely majestic and unforgiving environment of space could have earned him billing as the film’s third lead and stands as Gravity’s pièce de résistance. The 13-minute opening shot sees his camera swoop and circle the astronauts with such believability that he captures both the gazing wonder of zero-gravity and the merciless conditions within which Stone and Kowalski are forced to operate when disaster strikes.

While the the film’s momentum is slowed by its own philosophical thrust, every frame is artfully constructed so as to uproot us from any sense of the familiar, and in this regard Gravity is an emphatic cinematic achievement.

amaenche@mavs.coloradomesa.edu