This was mostly a good film, though I felt that there were perhaps some scientific inaccuracies.
Augustine Lofthouse (George Clooney) decides to stay behind in Antarctica to keep watch over the research station as the entire continent is evacuated due to a mysterious illness gripping the planet (sound familiar?). However, this illness is far worse than the dreaded COVID as basically by the time the film begins Augustine is the last person left alive or so we're led to believe. However, a research shuttle is still roaming around in space and Augustine is determined to give them a message so they don't return to a dead planet.
The film then flips back and forth between Augustine and Iris (Caoilinn Springer) whom he discovers was left behind as he fights to get to another satellite station to deliver the message and the research space ship, Aether who is manned by five diverse astronauts who have their own struggles including Sully's (Felicity Jones's) pregnancy and the ship being somehow thrown off course.
And then when Augustine finally gets his message to the ship, pilot Tom Mitchell (Kyle Chandler) refuses to believe that everyone is dead and decides to take a return pod and go back to Earth anyway and Sanchez (Damian Bichir) decides to join him, to give Maya Lawrence (Tiffany Boone) who tragically dies in a meteor shower, leaving just Sully and the Captain Gordon Adewole (David Oleyowo) to make the return trip, while back on Earth Augustine, ill enough to need daily dialysis treatments dies, revealing that young Iris was merely a figment of his imagination, finally giving him the relationship with his daughter, certainly his deepest regret. It is revealed that Sully is actually his daughter, which I figured out almost immediately during the first flashback to a younger Augustine.
While I hate twists like that, I did find this film satisfying though I found parts unrealistic or inaccurate such as when Augustine falls into the deep, cold water due to cracking ice, he manages to swim for a bit and it isn't until he rises that the hypothermia sets in, which just made no sense. On the other hand, Aether sling-shotting around the Earth to use Earth's gravity to return to Jupiter's moon which can manage to support life just as was done in another brilliant solidary space film, based on a book, The Martian.
Still, the film was brilliantly acted and went by quickly and relatively smoothly and I did truly enjoy it. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Gordon is revealed to be the father of Sully's unborn child and it appears that there certainly some love there but the pregnancy catches them both off-guard which leads me to a constant point I've made time and time again: there is this lovely little invention called a condom which is pretty effective, if one is used.
-The same also applies to Iris's parents when they meet. Ethan Peck (grandson of the brilliant actor Gregory) is young Augustine turning in a brilliant performance, even matching his voice to meet Clooney's while Sophie Rundle shines as Jean Sullivan enamored by Augustine though she lies and tells him that she isn't pregnant when she actually is.
-There are some interesting name choices for Sully's unborn daughter, hopefully they pick Caroline, by far one of the better choices.
-Shockingly Maya doesn't recognize the classic Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline". I guess she was too young when that song was played on the radio but this is the slightly distant future.
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