by A. Marshall

Created on: August 28, 2009

Moon was filmed at Shepperton Studios, England, and directed by Duncan Jones who also wrote the original storyline. He wrote it intentionally with Sam Rockwell in mind as the central character.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is based on a mining station on the dark side of the Moon, sending supplies of Helium 3 to Earth. Helium 3 is an energy resource being mined by Lunar Industries, Sam's employers, and is the answer to the world's energy crisis. It's a lonely life on the Moon, and Sam is looking forward to his three year stint being up so he can get back to his wife and young daughter on Earth. His only company is Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey) the intelligent computer/robot, which takes care of him as well as operating the station. His only contact with Earth is in the form of recorded messages he receives from his employers and his wife as, due to a satellite glitch, there is no real time link.

However, with just two weeks left to go, he is aware that he is beginning to hallucinate, thinking there is someone else on the station. Gerty becomes concerned about his state of mind, which Sam tries to conceal. But things get even worse after an accident in a lunar rover.

It all begins quite slowly with Sam meandering around doing his routine work against the silent, silvery grey backdrop of the Moon, with only the soothing, amiable voice of Gerty to talk to. There's an atmospheric piano soundtrack that generates a feeling of something impending. This slow, quiet beginning serves the purpose of lulling you into some sense of the monotonous and isolated way of life Sam has been leading for the past three years, so it's worth being patient.

Sam has clearly let his standards go. He looks unkempt and scruffy, and the station is grungy and untidy, with stick-on notes everywhere. Even his space suit is scruffy. The look is grittily industrial and functional. It does raise the question- why is everything always so clean looking and glossy in the Star Trek movie? It's so against human nature, as well as the natural tendency of machines to attract dirt, grease and scrapes. The set of Moon is far more realistic.

There are no big exciting action scenes, but it's a story that slowly draws you in and keeps you guessing about what's real and what isn't. It's more of a psychological drama, as Sam begins to question what he's seeing. Is he really hallucinating, or is something more sinister going on? And what does Gerty have to do with it? We've all seen enough science fiction movies

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