Sarah is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven year old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot spend more time with her child. Her love is overpowering, unsettling. When Sarah is chosen to join the crew of a year-long space mission called Proxima, it creates chaos in the mother-daughter relationship.
Acting
Eva Green's trembling restraint will wreck you completely.
Direction
Winocour shoots space training like a body horror film.
Cinematography
Tight claustrophobic frames that suddenly open to infinite void.
Director
Alice Winocour
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Eva Green trained with actual ESA astronauts in Cologne and reportedly threw up during centrifuge practice. Method or masochism? You decide.
Winocour specifically rejected the 'triumphant mom' ending typical of American space films; Sarah's victory is ambiguous, compromised, and therefore more honest.
FR
