Proxima
2020
12A
Director: Alice Winocour
Starring: Eva Greene, Zelia Boulant, Matt Dillon, Lars Eidinger, Sandra Huller etc
Overall rating 71/100
Proxima is about a single French mother called Sarah (Eva Green), who is training to become an astronaut and go to mars, but after her daughter struggles with being separated from her, she must decide on her dream or to stay with her daughter. Proxima was a solid drama, but did have issues that held it back.
My first few positives would be the cinematography, the connection between the mother and daughter and the themes. The film had fantastic cinematography, with some fantastic shots that took your breath away in some interesting locations that took you into the film really well. The connection between the mother and daughter was also great, the chemistry between both actors here was great, and their relationship was very charming and believable so whenever they were together on screen it just worked. Also the themes expressed were also very good, the film tackled some good issues, including the negative attitudes towards women being as capable as men, but the character of Sarah handled herself very well in these situations which made her very likeable, but also the themes of separation and being the best mother possible was handled fairly well and sensitively.
My next couple of positives would be the likeable characters and charming tone. The character of Sarah was very likeable throughout, her relationship with her daughter was very special and explored well, she rose above all the doubts from everyone else, she never gave up and achieved her dreams, becoming an inspiring person to watch, the daughter was also very likeable, to see her confidence grow in terms of her school and social life was great to watch, and how she handled being away from her mum was powerful and often heart-breaking to watch. The film also had a lovely charming tone, it didn't need to have big action scenes or loads of CGI in order to be good, Proxima had a natural and real charm to it's characters and plot.
My few negatives would be the un realistic dialogue for the child, pacing issues, and the film not going deep enough with the themes and develop between Sarah and Stella (Zellia Boulant). I thought the dialogue largely at the beginning of the movie was to unrealistic for Stella's character. Her talking about her mum dying and how many kids she wants when she is that young wouldn't really happen in real life and was slightly inappropriate and off-putting. The pacing was fairly slow, throughout the movie it was very slow and the pacing did make me lose interest in the movie from time to time, which was a shame as it made some parts of the movie lose their impact. And finally I felt like they could of went deeper into the themes and development between Sarah and Stella, I felt like the movie largely only touched the surface and played it safe with the issues of being separated from your child, this took away a lot of the emotional impact that the film was trying to deliver, there was just enough development for me to be connected to the characters but not enough for me to be emotionally connected.
My final few positives would be the performances, equal amount of time spent on the mother and daughter and the powerful ending. The performances here were very good. Eva Green was fantastic, she showed a lot of emotional depth in the film, and her performance and charm made her character very likeable. Also the performance from Zellia Boulard was also very good, for a child so young she showed a lot of versality and promise throughout, handling all of her emotional scenes very well. I also liked that they managed to spend an equal amount of time on developing Sarah as well as Stella, this made you understand and care for both characters and what they were feeling throughout the movie, so whenever they were together on screen you understood what they were going through emotionally in their heads. And finally the ending was powerful, Sarah and Stella's final meeting was very well done and emotional, and for Sarah to finally take off in the rocket was captivating to watch.
Overall Proxima is a well-acted, visually thrilling and sensitively handled drama. That sadly plays it safe with what could have been a more emotionally impactful and more consistently paced film.
Overall rating 71/100
Proxima is about a single French mother called Sarah (Eva Green), who is training to become an astronaut and go to mars, but after her daughter struggles with being separated from her, she must decide on her dream or to stay with her daughter. Proxima was a solid drama, but did have issues that held it back.
My first few positives would be the cinematography, the connection between the mother and daughter and the themes. The film had fantastic cinematography, with some fantastic shots that took your breath away in some interesting locations that took you into the film really well. The connection between the mother and daughter was also great, the chemistry between both actors here was great, and their relationship was very charming and believable so whenever they were together on screen it just worked. Also the themes expressed were also very good, the film tackled some good issues, including the negative attitudes towards women being as capable as men, but the character of Sarah handled herself very well in these situations which made her very likeable, but also the themes of separation and being the best mother possible was handled fairly well and sensitively.
My next couple of positives would be the likeable characters and charming tone. The character of Sarah was very likeable throughout, her relationship with her daughter was very special and explored well, she rose above all the doubts from everyone else, she never gave up and achieved her dreams, becoming an inspiring person to watch, the daughter was also very likeable, to see her confidence grow in terms of her school and social life was great to watch, and how she handled being away from her mum was powerful and often heart-breaking to watch. The film also had a lovely charming tone, it didn't need to have big action scenes or loads of CGI in order to be good, Proxima had a natural and real charm to it's characters and plot.
My few negatives would be the un realistic dialogue for the child, pacing issues, and the film not going deep enough with the themes and develop between Sarah and Stella (Zellia Boulant). I thought the dialogue largely at the beginning of the movie was to unrealistic for Stella's character. Her talking about her mum dying and how many kids she wants when she is that young wouldn't really happen in real life and was slightly inappropriate and off-putting. The pacing was fairly slow, throughout the movie it was very slow and the pacing did make me lose interest in the movie from time to time, which was a shame as it made some parts of the movie lose their impact. And finally I felt like they could of went deeper into the themes and development between Sarah and Stella, I felt like the movie largely only touched the surface and played it safe with the issues of being separated from your child, this took away a lot of the emotional impact that the film was trying to deliver, there was just enough development for me to be connected to the characters but not enough for me to be emotionally connected.
My final few positives would be the performances, equal amount of time spent on the mother and daughter and the powerful ending. The performances here were very good. Eva Green was fantastic, she showed a lot of emotional depth in the film, and her performance and charm made her character very likeable. Also the performance from Zellia Boulard was also very good, for a child so young she showed a lot of versality and promise throughout, handling all of her emotional scenes very well. I also liked that they managed to spend an equal amount of time on developing Sarah as well as Stella, this made you understand and care for both characters and what they were feeling throughout the movie, so whenever they were together on screen you understood what they were going through emotionally in their heads. And finally the ending was powerful, Sarah and Stella's final meeting was very well done and emotional, and for Sarah to finally take off in the rocket was captivating to watch.
Overall Proxima is a well-acted, visually thrilling and sensitively handled drama. That sadly plays it safe with what could have been a more emotionally impactful and more consistently paced film.