Another Earth: A Review and Some Thoughts on the End

I'll make my review of Another Earth spoiler free. After that I'll have a couple thoughts on it that will have spoilers, but I'll give you all fair warning.

Another Earth is not the film I expected when I first heard the title. I couldn't qualify this has a science fiction movie, there's no fighting between the two earths. There's no bodysnatching or dopplegangers. It tells a very familiar story against a very unique backdrop in which we discover another Earth and can see it in the sky.

The movie was made for $200,000 and is beautifully shot. It's got great performances by William Mapother and newcomer, Brit Marling. I look forward to seeing a lot more of Brit Marling in future films. The events that connect the two at the start of the film and the events that bring them closer throughout build naturally. It's a slow build, but it doesn't lose my interest. I don't stop caring about the characters. The film takes a very strange turn at the hour mark. It makes you dread the impending reveal, so much so that you hope it won't ever happen.

Another Earth isn't going to be a huge sucess that will end up on the Best Films list between Citizen Kane and The Godfather. It's a solid film, well put together with a wonderful concept. I highly recommend giving it a watch. And when you do, you can come back and read my thoughts on the ending.

Warning: Major Spoilers Below

The very end of Another Earth is a quick cut after Rhoda encounters another version of herself. And that's it. They don't say anything to each other. There's no definite clues that this is even the Earth-2 Rhoda. Some people think it's a dream, or that everything was a dream of Rhoda's to deal with the accident. But that's a dumb theory. I think that there are one of two possibilities that lead to this ending.

1. The earths were still in sync at the start of the film. Rhoda hears a theory on TV that when the two earths saw each other, they started following their own timelines. But it could have happened later, once they made contact with each other. In this scenario, the car accident still happened. John and Rhoda still meet. The Richard Branson-type still had the contest to go to the other Earth and Earth-2 Rhoda won the contest. So at the end of the film, it's Earth-2 Rhoda coming to earth to tell Earth-1 Rhoda: "Better luck next time." If this scenario is true through, we know that the earths are now out of sync because Earth-2 Rhoda took the trip, but Earth-1 Rhoda stayed and gave the ticket to John.

2. The earths weren't in sync and the car accident never happened on Earth-2. In this scenario, when John goes to Earth-2, he finds his family alive and well, with the Earth-2 version of him. He decides that there isn't much for him on Earth-1 and seeks out Earth-2 Rhoda. He meets Earth-2 Rhoda and starts a relationship with her. This is mostly based on the speech that Earth-1 Rhoda gives before delievering the news. Earth-2 Rhoda either through winning the essay contest, or some other means, goes to Earth-1 to tell that Rhoda to forgive herself and that John has found happiness.

The second scenario is a bit more of a jump, I know. It's a more romantic ending. The first scenario is probably more likely based on the evidence in the film, but ends on a worse note for everyone. I choose to think there was a brighter ending and Rhoda gets redemption and forgiveness for her actions. Either way, we know the earths are out of sync and it proves the idea of free will being something we still have. And that's a positive.