I rarely go to see movies opening weekend. It turns out, it’s not really the madhouse I expected if it’s not some blockbuster. Maybe it’s because I saw it at an IMAX theater. The movie is called Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt. 

I like space movies. Most recently I watched First Man, starring Ryan Gosling who portrayed Neil Armstrong as he set foot on the moon. I really enjoyed The Martian with Matt Damon stranded on Mars. Interstellar had some cool parts but was overall just weird. Gravity with Sandra Bullock was great in IMAX because you really had the sensation of floating in space.

Ad Astra is not your typical space movie. It’s really a movie about relationships, especially between a father and son, that happens to be set in the future when space travel has become as perfunctory as air travel is today. I enjoyed the movie mainly because Brad Pitt carries it with his superb acting. 

The movie is not action-packed. It is rather slow, but I think that suits the subject matter. If you are expecting a romping space adventure, this is not the movie for you. If you are interested in a thoughtful piece about human emotions with space as the setting, perhaps you might enjoy it.