Ad Astra

Name: Ad Astra
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Released: September 20, 2019
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Alyson Reed, Anne McDaniels, Bobby Nish, Brad Pitt, Daniel Sauli

2019

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 56 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 904 Ratings

See All

6.2

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.2	Your Score
6.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 904 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Ad Astra (Trailer 2)

Now Playing: Ad Astra (Trailer 2)

Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: September 20, 2019 | PG-13

Starring: Alyson Reed, Anne McDaniels, Bobby Nish, Brad Pitt, Daniel Sauli, Donald Sutherland, Donnie Keshawarz, Elisa Perry, Greg Bryk, Halszka Kuza, Jamie Kennedy, John Finn, John Ortiz, Kimberly Elise, Kimmy Shields, LisaGay Hamilton, Liv Tyler, Loren Dean, Nicholas Walker, Ravi Kapoor, Ruth Negga, Sean Blakemore, Tommy Lee Jones, Vivian Fleming-Alvarez

Summary: Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

Director: James Gray

Genre(s): Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 123 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Sep 20, 2019

This is rare, nuanced storytelling, anchored by one of Brad Pitt’s career-best performances and remarkable technical elements on every level. It’s a special film. Read full review

100

James Mottram

Aug 29, 2019

Sublime and stupendous. Beautiful, bold and remarkably executed, this is Gray’s masterpiece, driven by a career-best turn from Pitt. Read full review

Tim Grierson

Aug 29, 2019

Though principally a meditative experience, Ad Astra also makes room for some superb suspense sequences, resulting in a thought-provoking film with life-or-death stakes. Read full review

Peter Travers

Sep 17, 2019

Gray’s filmmaking is tremendously exciting. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Sep 19, 2019

It's a well-made, provocative movie. And in a great big universe searching for intelligent content, one would hope there's still room for that. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Aug 29, 2019

Gray proves beyond measure that he’s got the chops to make a movie like this. He also has a vision, of sorts — one that’s expressed, nearly inadvertently, in the metaphor of that space antenna. Watching Ad Astra, you may think you’ve signed on for a journey that’s out of this world, but it turns out that the film’s concerns are somberly tethered to Earth. Read full review

John Bleasdale

Aug 30, 2019

Scenes come and go with a weightlessness that has nothing to do with zero gravity. Read full review

SEE ALL 56 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

dogrriman

Sep 20, 2019

I loved it. It's just so grounded, so elegant and low-key. So touching, emotional. Brad Pitt is obviously fantastic.

36 of 75 users found this helpful3639

amheretojudge

Sep 20, 2019

A cry for yearning to accept, you either let go then or rattle yourself to stand alone and fly alone.

Ad Astra Point. And another point. Hopefully another followed by one other. The storytelling of a film- let us stick to that, for now- has been of these various points, stringed stronglyA cry for yearning to accept, you either let go then or rattle yourself to stand alone and fly alone.

Ad Astra

Point. And another point. Hopefully another followed by one other. The storytelling of a film- let us stick to that, for now- has been of these various points, stringed strongly by profound characters with profound theories pulsating on that attention grabbing screen. We jump from one to another, float, skip merrily, exhale boringly and criticize ambitiously. These formats have been kept in front of us over the ages in cinematic history. But lately, I found myself with extravagant projects standing against those obligatory notes, that they, the writers, the makers, are told to deliver, and reject the hypothesis, the notion on succumbing to those elements. "That's the spirit!" is my reaction, and the cinema takes its turn towards new possibilities.

Almost like a new exploration. Something that is extra terrestrial to us. And I'd be disappointed and not angry, if years, decades later, Ad Astra, co-written and directed by James Gray, won't get a nod for this analysis. The film is set in the future which has got only thing to bring alive in that fabric and that is the fact that the quality of the filmmaking is higher, mature, than what we receive, might even deserve. We are not ready for this kind of a show. I was not.

There are themes so pure and alone out there in the space, stripped emotionally by Brad Pitt, that horror seems a by product. A by product that you fall under it, every now and then amongst this post social media world. This hitchhiking version of the sci-fi adventure that we have never even thought of, has a man single handedly pull up a sun. A star. And it is that pull which Gray feels in Pitt's friendship over the years and that same pull that has kept Pitt young on the screen; artistically, his performance is still raw and decolorizing.… Expand

11 of 19 users found this helpful118

thegldt

Sep 21, 2019

Ad Astra seemed like two distinct movies stitched together right down the middle. The first half is kinetic and action-filled as advertised in the trailers. The dizzying space fall, horror-esque SOS detour, and intense moon rover chase sequences, in particular, were equal partsAd Astra seemed like two distinct movies stitched together right down the middle. The first half is kinetic and action-filled as advertised in the trailers. The dizzying space fall, horror-esque SOS detour, and intense moon rover chase sequences, in particular, were equal parts heart-pounding and visually striking. I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle chase on the moon executed this viscerally before.

Everything switches gears in the midpoint when Brad Pitt's Roy McBride reaches the red planet. The film practically loses its exciting energy when it finally decides to focus on the main conflict of the story: Roy's relationship with his father (or the lack thereof). The film suddenly feels plaintive, ruminative, and lonely—especially against the backdrop of the vast emptiness of space.

To its credit, 'Ad Astra' maintains A+ cinematography and other-worldly imagery throughout its respectable two-hour runtime. If you allow me, I'd even compare this film's gorgeous and mystifying visuals to that of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' (*film grain included). It's a visual treat and Max Richter's hauntingly beautiful score is the icing on top of this cosmic cake.

Perhaps I would've enjoyed this more if it had just a little payoff on the extraterrestrial intelligence front, but that whole "search for alien life" aspect was not the point of this story—which really is (in contrast to the marketing) a dark and stoic expedition to strip apart complex father-son dynamics and question our definitions of masculinity (and where love, longing, and fragility fit in to the idea of a "man" or heroic figures).… Expand

5 of 10 users found this helpful55

JazzyChan

Oct 26, 2019

I don't understand how the critics mark this so high. "Pitt's best performance" "A well made provocative movie" "superb suspense sequences" "A rare nuances story-telling". Are those guys still seeing the movies they talk about or they just write papers on it like ****ing robots? I don'tI don't understand how the critics mark this so high. "Pitt's best performance" "A well made provocative movie" "superb suspense sequences" "A rare nuances story-telling". Are those guys still seeing the movies they talk about or they just write papers on it like ****ing robots? I don't think this is a bad movie but, come on, it isn't that great.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

frenesi

Sep 29, 2019

muy desilusionado con esta peli es aburrida,lenta y mal guión pero bonitos efectos especiales

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

Shepppy

Sep 24, 2019

Great effects but how can space travel be so boring another soul searching in space that costs me 2hrs of my life. First time of seen so many people walk out of a movie before.

4 of 17 users found this helpful413

bojan1080

Feb 2, 2020

The **** movie I have ever seen and believe you me I have seen a lot of **** movies

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

SEE ALL 323 REVIEWS

74	#74 Best Movie of 2019
14	#14 Most Discussed Movie of 2019