258. Proxima; movie review

PROXIMA
Cert 12A
107 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, brief nudity

What do astronauts go through before they reach the launchpad?
Anna Winocour presents us with the physical and emotional toll via her lead, Sarah (Eva Green), a French mother who is lined up for a multinational mission.
Sarah is determined that she is as adept as her male colleagues on every level but even she has not accounted for the invisible umbilical cord between her and her daughter, Stella (Zélie Boulant).
Green is compelling as Sarah faces professional pressure to make sure she is ready for the mission while having to hand over responsibility for Stella to her ex-husband.
Matt Dillon plays one of her fellow astronauts who initially seems less than keen to have her on the team.
Proxima is unusual because it slides between languages. Sarah is French, her former partner (Lars Eidinger) is German, the space centre is in Russia and the Franca lingua is English.
This seems jolly realistic but is somewhat distracting.
Nevertheless, an emotional pull is engendered by the tug-of-love between Sarah's life ambition and her daughter's need for her mum.
There is no doubt in my mind that Proxima is a fair representation of both the intense training regime of an astronaut and the fall-out on their families.
However, I was left wondering why it has been released decades into a space programme in which women have played an integral part.
Indeed, one has recently been lined up for a mission to the moon.
So, why create a film as if gender equality is such a novelty it causes consternation? Perhaps I was missing something but I couldn't see the point.
Nevertheless, Green is on top of her game and she manages to create a decent-ish reason for watching it.

Reasons to watch: Unusual take on pre-prep for astronauts
Reasons to avoid: Lower on action than expected

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Very brief
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? The first mother in space was NASA astronaut Anna Fisher who made history 14 months after giving birth.

The final word. Alice Winocour: "The idea of the separation from Earth would resonate with the idea of the separation from the little girl. I wanted to confront the endlessness of space but also really tiny things like the intimacy of the mother and daughter relationship." Seventh Row

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