Sandra Bullock is one of the most interesting actresses working today. Rather than appearing in major blockbuster franchises, Bullock has managed to make a name for herself by continually picking unique, interesting roles, often as part of original stories. The Oscar-winning actress has appeared in films like While You Were Sleeping, The Blind Side, and Miss Congeniality; has started franchises like Speed, Practical Magic, and Bird Box; and, in recent years, has starred in unique films like The Unforgivable and The Lost City.
Bullock’s list of credits is impressive, with her spanning a variety of genres. She has proven that she can handle comedies, dramas, fantasies, horror films, and more, and she makes nearly every film she’s in better. When it comes to sci-fi, though, her best movie doesn’t get talked about as much as it deserves, meaning that a spotlight needs to be put on it for its 13th anniversary.
Alfonso Cuarón is a Mexican filmmaker who made his feature film debut with 1991’s Sólo con tu pareja, and after Warner Bros. distributed the film, they brought the director in to do some English-language films. Cuarón directed 1995’s A Little Princess and 1998’s Great Expectations, although his career really took off with the back-to-back releases of the 2001 critical hit Y tu mamá también and the 2004 blockbuster Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 2006’s Children of Men cemented Cuarón as a filmmaker who could handle big-budget movies, and for his next project, he wanted to go even bigger. Cuarón and his son, Jonás Cuarón, wrote the first draft of what would become Gravity in 2008. The director brought Gravity to Universal, but it got stuck in development hell, remaining unmade until Warner Bros. stepped in and bought the project.
With Cuarón and Warner Bros. reunited, Gravity began development, and it finally hit theaters on October 4, 2013. The film stars Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone, a medical engineer who is sent to space on her first mission, and George Clooney as Matt Kowalski, the commander of Stone’s team. During the mission, the duo goes on a spacewalk, only for space debris to decimate their ship and kill the rest of their crew. Cut off from Earth, Stone and Kowalski must figure out a way to survive in space and return home.
Gravity was a critical success and a massive box office hit, with it earning 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and making $723.2 million against a budget of $130 million. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won seven, those being Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. The film was a technical showcase and filled with powerhouse performances, and it still holds up to this day.
However, the strongest part of Gravity is its script. While the events of the film are fairly simple, the character arcs and themes are incredible, with the Cuaróns using the space tragedy in order to explore Stone’s journey from immense grief to a renewed will to live. The film’s ending uses visual metaphors that contain imagery of fetuses and evolution, symbolizing this journey. As the film goes on, Gravity continues to get more and more surreal, containing moments like Stone’s attempt to take her own life, a vision of Kowalski, and more.
Gravity was immensley successful upon its release, which is why its so odd that almost nobody talks about it anymore. However, this is likely due to an incredibly similar film releasing only one year later: 2014’s Interstellar. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Interstellar also features two movie stars playing astronauts who go on a mission to space, wind up being the only survivors, and must find a way home. Like Gravity, Interstellar was also a critical and box office hit that made around $700 million.
Interstellar is now considered to be one of the best movies of all time, while Gravity has seemingly been left in the dust. This is a shame, as they are both incredible movies that excel at telling their individual stories, even if there are similarities. Gravity is a modern sci-fi masterpiece, and if you haven’t seen it, now is the perfect time.
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