Interstellar (2014) – Full Spoiler Review

Poster for Interstellar 2014 Movie — Official Poster Interstellar 2014 Movie

Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.

PG-13
2h 49m

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Jonathan Nolan
Premiered: November 05, 2014
Language: English
Status: Released
Budget: $165,000,000.00
Revenue: $746,606,706.00
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 45 wins & 148 nominations total
Country: United Kingdom
United States of America

Interstellar

8.5/10 (38329 vote)

★★★★★★★★★★

Production: Legendary Pictures
Syncopy
Lynda Obst Productions

Spoiler

In a not-too-distant future, Earth is slowly succumbing to an environmental crisis. Dust storms are a daily menace, and crops are failing, threatening the very survival of humankind. Amidst this bleak reality, we meet Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former pilot turned farmer, raising his two children, Tom and Murph, along with his father-in-law, Donald. Murph, a bright and inquisitive young girl, believes a "ghost" resides in her room, a phenomenon her father dismisses as childish fancy. This "ghost," however, leaves behind cryptic messages in dust patterns, hinting at a deeper mystery.

Cooper's past as a pilot is revealed through flashbacks, showcasing his skill and passion for flight. His daughter, Murph, played by Mackenzie Foy in her youth, recalls her father's dreams of flying, even questioning if he dreamt of crashes. The stark contrast between Cooper's piloting aspirations and his current agrarian life underscores the desperate circumstances facing humanity. The film intersperses these personal moments with broader societal commentary, featuring elderly residents reminiscing about a time when their land was fertile and abundant with crops and cornfields, a stark reminder of what has been lost.

The family's daily life is disrupted by educational realities. Cooper drives his children to school, not just for drop-off, but to confront Murph's teacher and the school principal. The principal, David Oyelowo, presents Cooper with Tom's mediocre academic performance, suggesting a future as a farmer. Cooper, however, sees engineering potential in his son, a vision at odds with Tom's current trajectory. More alarming is Murph's teacher, Ms. Kelly (Collette Wolfe), revealing a forbidden textbook Murph brought to class. This textbook, unlike the federally approved curriculum that dismisses the Apollo missions as a fabrication designed to bankrupt the Soviets, presents a more accurate historical account. Cooper's frustration with the educational system, and the broader societal denial of scientific truths, is palpable. He laments the absence of his late wife, who would have offered a calmer perspective. Murph's defiance leads to her suspension.

The growing crisis is further emphasized when Cooper is summoned home to find an unusual number of tractors surrounding the crops, indicating a severe problem with the food supply. The fragility of their existence is brought into sharp focus during a baseball game. Donald (John Lithgow) voices his displeasure with the concession choices, preferring hot dogs over popcorn. Suddenly, a massive dust storm descends, forcing the family to don protective masks and race home. Murph's realization that her bedroom window is open leads to a frantic dash upstairs. There, Cooper discovers the dust patterns on the floor – parallel lines, both thick and thin – which he meticulously analyzes. His pilot's intuition kicks in as he deciphers them as coordinates.

Driven by these coordinates, Cooper embarks on a clandestine journey, with Murph secretly stowing away in his truck. Their pursuit leads them to a remote facility, where Cooper's attempt to breach the perimeter with bolt cutters is met by the unexpected arrival of a robot named TARS (Bill Irwin). TARS apprehends Cooper, leading to an interrogation that is interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway).

Amelia ushers Cooper into a clandestine meeting with a group of scientists, including her father, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), Doyle (Wes Bentley), and Romilly (David Gyasi). They reveal themselves as members of NASA, a clandestine organization dedicated to humanity's survival. Professor Brand explains the dire situation: Earth's biosphere is collapsing, and the only hope lies in finding a new habitable planet. Previous missions, known as the Lazarus Missions, led by the renowned Dr. Mann, were sent to scout potential worlds.

Romilly elaborates on the discovery of a wormhole, a cosmic shortcut offering a pathway to a new galaxy. This represents "Plan A" – finding a new home. "Plan B," a more drastic measure, involves repopulating the new world with fertilized human embryos, effectively replacing humanity as it is. Cooper, a staunch advocate for preserving existing human life, rejects Plan B and commits to Plan A. Murph, however, is devastated by her father's impending departure and her own perceived abandonment. Her anger culminates in a furious confrontation in her room, where she deciphers a Morse code message from books falling off her shelf: "Stay." Cooper, though unable to promise a return date, assures her he will come back. He gifts her his watch, a symbol of time and his promise, but she throws it in her anger. As Cooper prepares to leave, more books tumble from the shelf, a final, poignant moment before his departure.

Cooper bids farewell to Donald and Tom, but Murph arrives too late to say goodbye. His hopeful glance into the passenger seat, searching for his daughter, is met with emptiness, and his eyes well up with tears. He, Amelia, Doyle, and Romilly, accompanied by TARS and the ship's computer CASE (Josh Stewart), blast off aboard the Endurance, their mission to Mars and then Saturn. Romilly and Doyle enter hypersleep, conserving resources for the long journey.

Back on Earth, Professor Brand returns Cooper's truck to Tom, offering a semblance of normalcy. He informs Donald and Murph that messages can be sent to Cooper, but Murph remains consumed by her anger. The astronauts navigate the wormhole, a breathtaking passage through the cosmos. They understand the relativistic effects of time dilation, where an hour in their journey could equate to seven years on Earth. This stark reality underscores the urgency of their mission. Cooper devises a plan to slingshot around the black hole Gargantua to reach "Miller's planet," named after one of the earlier Lazarus astronauts.

Upon landing on Miller's planet, a world of seemingly endless water, Romilly remains aboard the Endurance while Cooper, Amelia, Doyle, and TARS venture out. They discover Miller's wrecked beacon, but no sign of the astronaut himself. A colossal wave, initially mistaken for mountains by Amelia, surges towards them. Cooper orders a hasty retreat, but Doyle is tragically lost to the wave. Back on the Endurance, Romilly has aged 23 years, a chilling testament to the planet's extreme time dilation. Amelia realizes Miller likely died mere minutes before their arrival.

A series of video messages from Earth offer Cooper a glimpse into the intervening years. Tom, now an adult (Casey Affleck), expresses his longing for his father and reveals his marriage to Lois (Leah Cairns) and the birth of their daughter, Jesse. The messages grow increasingly somber, showing Tom's despair over Jesse's fate and the passing of Donald. The final message is from an adult Murph (Jessica Chastain), now the age Cooper was when he left. Her weeping underscores the profound emotional toll of his absence, leaving Cooper overwhelmed with grief.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Murph works alongside Professor Brand at NASA, assisting him with his groundbreaking equation, crucial for escaping Earth's gravitational pull. Lingering resentment towards her father for his abandonment still clouds her. Cooper, Amelia, and Romilly face a critical decision: which planet to visit next – Edmunds or Mann. During their discussion, Cooper learns of Amelia's deep affection for Wolf Edmunds, after whom one of the planets is named. Amelia expresses her hope of seeing him again, articulating her belief that love is the one force that transcends the boundaries of time and space.

Murph visits the dying Professor Brand, whose partner, Getty (Topher Grace), directs her to his room. Brand confesses that he had long ago solved his equation but lacked the data from a singularity behind a black hole to complete it. He reveals his reliance on Plan B, crushing Murph's hopes for Plan A's success. With his final breaths, he succumbs to his illness. Murph, heartbroken, sends a video message to Amelia, informing her of her father's death.

The astronauts encounter an icy planet, its atmosphere filled with frozen clouds. They discover another spacecraft, containing a pod with Dr. Mann in hypersleep. Upon awakening, Mann is overwhelmed with emotion at seeing another human, weeping in Cooper's arms. He describes the planet's extreme conditions: 67-hour days and nights, and frigid temperatures. They then receive Murph's message, which also addresses Cooper, questioning their knowledge of the mission's true nature and Cooper's abandonment of his family. Amelia is as shocked as Cooper, and Mann admits his own disillusionment with the mission. Amelia breaks down in tears.

Murph attends a dinner at her childhood home, where Tom now lives with his family, including his wife Lois and their young son, Coop (Liam Dickinson). Coop and Lois suffer from a persistent cough, attributed to the deteriorating environmental conditions. Tom, however, seems resigned, refusing to relocate his family.

Cooper and Mann venture out to explore the planet, leaving Romilly and Amelia behind. Mann reveals his treacherous intentions, disabling Cooper's oxygen supply and pushing him over a cliff. Mann confesses to falsifying data about the planet's viability, driven by a desire for rescue. Believing Plan A a failure, he embraces Plan B and leaves Cooper to perish. Cooper fights back, but Mann cracks his visor, leaving him injured. Mann escapes, while Cooper desperately tries to contact Amelia. Mann then kills Romilly by detonating his station, prompting Amelia to rush to Cooper's aid. They retrieve TARS and pursue Mann.

Meanwhile, Getty attempts to help Coop with his cough, but Tom, defiant and resentful, punches Getty. Murph and Tom leave, joining a convoy of vans evacuating the area as another dust storm brews. Murph drives into the cornfields, douses them with gasoline, and ignites them with a flare, a desperate act to force Tom and his family to flee.

In space, Cooper and Amelia find Mann attempting to dock with the Endurance, but his failure to secure the airlock leads to depressurization and a catastrophic explosion that kills him. Cooper, with TARS's assistance, regains control of the Endurance. They decide to use TARS to gather data from the singularity behind Gargantua and then plot a course to Edmunds' planet. Facing dwindling resources, Cooper makes the agonizing decision to separate from Amelia, allowing her to proceed alone. He then falls through what appears to be another wormhole, entering a surreal dimension.

He hears TARS's voice and finds himself against a wall-like structure. Peeking through, he sees Murph as a child, observing her through her bookcase. He calls out to her, pushing the books. TARS explains that Cooper has entered a dimension where time, space, and gravity are manipulated by advanced beings. Cooper witnesses his past self on the day he left, desperately urging himself to stay. He notices the watch he gave Murph on the bookshelf and taps his fingers against the dimensional wall, attempting to communicate with adult Murph through the watch's hands.

Adult Murph, still struggling to evacuate Tom's family amidst the dying cornfield fire, realizes her father is communicating with her. This revelation empowers her to solve Professor Brand's equation, saving humanity. She rushes to the research facility, scattering her past work and kissing Getty in a moment of triumph. Cooper, meanwhile, falls through the dimension and drifts through space, losing consciousness.

Cooper awakens in a medical bay, informed by a doctor that he is 124 years old. He sees children playing baseball outside, a ball crashing through a window into a house situated directly above the field. He learns they are on Cooper Station, orbiting Saturn. The station is named after Murph, not him. The doctor informs him that Murph will arrive in a few weeks.

Cooper is reunited with TARS's remains and begins repairing him, enhancing his programming with honesty and humor. He then visits his great-grandchildren and a frail, elderly Murph in the hospital. She expresses joy at his return, fulfilling his promise. Knowing her time is short, she encourages Cooper to live his life and find Amelia, who is alone and establishing a new community on Edmunds' planet. The film concludes with Amelia on Edmunds' planet, initiating Plan B, unaware of humanity's survival. Cooper, heeding Murph's advice, resolves to seek out Amelia.