

Overall, I give Gravity four out of five stars for what it is able to accomplish as a 90-minute film and the depths it is able to reach with such a simple story.

By focusing on essentially one character and using that simple narrative, Gravity is able to tell a complex story about connection and isolation. It’s a simpler story than most films with one, albeit vast, location. In that sense, this film is not your typical film.
#Gravity 2013 movie
Cuarón lets the complex themes work their magic within the simple vehicle of the movie instead of bogging it down with complex plots and excessive baggage. The simplicity of the film could have easily worked against it but that simplicity is what makes it work. The continuous movement of the camera and shots of Stone and Kowalsky floating help emphasize this feeling even more. Yet, even with one location, the movie doesn’t feel cramped, and as Stone and Kowalsky move through space, it feels as if we, the audience, are moving with them. When you look at the movie as a whole, it is a simple vehicle - it has few cast members, one main location, and one narrative with nothing to detract or distract from the one plotline of the movie. In some spots, the movie can feel slow, but these moments are few and far between and almost feel intended to bring us back into the heart of the story. The movie also dissects the idea of how connection can seem like it is holding us back when really it is pushing us forward. It dives deep into the effects of isolation, how far it can push us, and how connection - connection with ourselves and others - can save us even in isolation.

The movie works best when it’s dealing with these themes there is a poignant scene where there is both a symbolic and actual loss of connection, and it is striking. Throughout the film, Stone and Kowalsky continuously talk to their home base, like at the beginning of the movie, but also long after they’ve lost connection with them. Space appears on screen just as often as Bullock and Clooney, and even with no lines its presence and effects are clearly felt by the viewer and the characters.Īlong with isolation, the film also deals with connection, featuring physical forms of connection like tethering and less tangible forms like dialogue and actions that show attempts at connection. The setting almost seems like its own non-verbal character, for its presence and the deafening isolation it provides the characters is the film’s catalyst. But as we continue through the film, another character pops up: space. Gravity relies heavily on its cast, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, simply because for the majority of the film it is them we follow. All seems well until it isn’t, and the communication satellite is struck by debris, leaving Dr. It’s evident that there is a connection between these people when Kowalsky starts a story that many at the base have already heard. The movie begins with banter between Kowalsky and Stone as well as with their home base, aptly called Houston. With smart dialogue, stunning visuals, and intentional and timely shots, Gravity gets its message across. The film is set in space, a vast and possibly isolating place. Even in the opening title screens, the writers make this known with the stylistic choice of spacing out the movie title, showing early tidbits of the plot to the viewer. Ryan Stone who, alongside Matt Kowalsky, is on a spacewalk doing their routine work until disaster hits, leaving them stranded and isolated in space with no way back home.Īt its core, Gravity is a film about isolation and connection. Gravity, a 2013 sci-fi thriller directed, produced, and written by Alfonso Cuarón, is a story about Dr. This is the theme at the core of the Alfonso Cuarón-led movie of the same name. Gravity, by definition, relies on connection. “The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass” (Oxford Languages) or “an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other” (NASA).
