Director George Clooney’s moving and deeply melancholy post-apocalyptic sci-fi imagines him as the last man on Earth. The planet has been evacuated and Augustine (Clooney), a scientist with terminal cancer, is alone with his regrets, manning an observatory in the Arctic Circle. When a silent little girl (Caoilinn Springall) turns up, he is prompted to attempt contact with someone in orbit. Briefly, he reaches a spaceship returning from a mission to the habitable planet of K-23. But the signal is weak, and so Augustine and the girl must trek through a radioactive ice storm to a weather station with a better connection.
As in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Alexandre Desplat’s score sets a tone of wonder, optimism, and cosmic significance. Set pieces – including a sinking bunker and an astronaut-related injury that sees gravity-defying globules of blood suspended in the air – are thrilling and judiciously spaced. The performances Clooney draws out are even better. Springall is a particular find, expressive even without words, whether playfully pinging peas across the dining table or dragging her duvet and pillow into Augustine’s bedroom.
In cinemas and on Netfix from 23 December
