Space: the final frontier. Instead of sticking with tropes, some films set in deep space eschew science fiction genre traditions, instead using their subject matter to create realistic dramas focused around complex characters enduring otherworldly situations.
This list compiles 10 films that, without their intergalactic contexts, would be considered harrowing and moving examples of people-focused features. These films attempt to portray space exploration with grueling detail, digging into the science, the physical toll, and the dangers met along the way. Without relying on cosmic monsters or alien take-overs, these movies provide plenty of thrills.
The Martian (2015)
Ridley Scott of Alien fame adapted this film from a popular book the same name. Matt Damon plays a NASA astronaut named Mark Watney, tasked with exploring Mars. When his mission has some serious issues, he’s left alone on the planet, forced to create a habitable existence for himself on a planet not designed to sustain human life.
The Martian provides a genuine and moving look into Watney’s resourceful quest for survival. Meanwhile, on Earth, a group of international scientists bands together, ignoring NASA protocol in an attempt to bring Watney home.
High Life (2018)
Robert Pattinson stars this futuristic, deep-space drama from contentious French filmmaker Claire Denis. The crew on board the vessel in High Life are death row inmates who have been given an alternative to normal capital punishment. Instead, they can partake in a suicide mission designed to harvest energy from a nearby black hole.
Juliette Binoche plays a nurse on board the vessel conducting her fertility experiments on the ill-fated criminals. Soon, the tight quarters breed violence and brutality, and the results are hallucinatory and unforgettable. In addition to Pattinson and Binoche, the movie also stars Mia Goth and Andre Benjamin (also known as Andre 3000 from Outkast).
Doppelgänger (1969)
Also released under the title Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, this British science fiction film follows a gang of space suits as they attempt to locate an undiscovered planet on the far side of the Sun. The astronauts are told their trip will take six weeks, but they somehow arrive back to Earth only after three.
They soon, realize, however, that they haven’t made it home at all, but instead have found the new planet, which happens to be a mirror image of Earth, down to each molecule. While not the best deep space movie ever, this one still offers up some realistic and visually stunning set designs.
Sunshine (2007)
Danny Boyle’s classic deep space movie follows a group of astronauts tasked with reviving the dying star that keeps humanity alive: the Sun. The eight astronauts have onboard their ship a nuclear device they are told will reignite the massive, looming light-giver.
After they lose contact with mission control, the crew begins to unravel. As they travel further and further away from everything they know, they turn on each other and themselves. This tense, psychological thriller stars Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, and Michelle Yeoh.
Outland (1981)
A space western, Outland stars Sean Connery as a deep space Marshal who lives on Jupiter’s moon Io. Known for its mining potential, Io is occupied by underpaid and overworked miners. When they begin acting strangely and psychotically, killing themselves and each other, the Marshal, O’Neil, begins to investigate.
What he comes to find is that those miners involved in the murders have all ingested a speed-like drug that makes them work faster. He also comes to realize that the mining company employing them is responsible for the proliferation of the lethal substance.
Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan’s epic, more realistic homage to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey delves into the complicated physics and time-traveling involved in deep space exploration. As the Earth is ravaged by famine and poor crop yields, an astronaut-turned-farmer played by Matthew McConaughey, Cooper, is lured into returning to his former profession under the guise of saving humanity.
Alongside a small crew portrayed by actors like Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley, and David Gyasi, Cooper embarks on a long journey into other galaxies that contain planets believed to be habitable by humans. Things don’t go as planned, time flips in on itself, and Cooper returns to humanity just in time to see his daughter, who was 10-years-old when he left, die after completing the work he was unable to due to complications.
The Wandering Earth (2019)
This intense Chinese film finds the planet Earth wandering into deep space in the year 2061. A group of astronauts are assigned to guide the planet away from the expanding sun, which is predicted to implode within 300 years, while avoiding a collision with Jupiter. They are aided by large planetary thrusters running on fusion power.
The goal is to move the entire planet and everyone inhabiting it to a new galaxy lightyears away, where future generations can avoid extinction when the Sun breathes its final breaths. This ambitious and visually pleasing drama was one of the highest-grossing Chinese films of all time.
Solaris (1972)
This intellectual masterpiece from esteemed Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky follows a psychiatrist who is sent to space station orbiting the distance planet Solaris. It seems the crew onboard the space station is suffering from severe psychological issues, which reach their apex when a doctor onboard dies under mysterious circumstances.
After the psychiatrist finds his long-dead wife on the vessel, it becomes obvious things are not what they seem. Somehow, those on board are forced to face their deepest fears and traumas head-on, with sometimes terrible consequences. Reality and fantasy are soon indistinguishable for everyone, including the psychiatrist.
Aniara (2018)
A Swedish deep space thriller, Aniara follows a group of cosmonaut colonizers sent from Earth to Mars. Unfortunately, space shrapnel hits their ship, veering them off course. The crew, not knowing how long it will take for them to arrive, fear their resources will dwindle.
Instead of coping with this hard reality, they instead turn to the Virtual Reality room created by one of the colonizers, Mimaroben, in order to escape reality.
Conquest Of Space (1955)
One of the first movies to try to portray space travel with as much realism as possible, Conquest of Space is a bit childish by today’s standards. It follows a group of astronauts set with reaching Mars. Instead of finding themselves face-to-face with drooling extraterrestrials, the crew instead contend with believable space calamities, like asteroids.
The movie also highlights the emotional and mental toll space travel takes. Finally, it includes some very outdated but appealing special effects that simulate life outside Earth’s atmosphere.
