Christopher Nolan is a name that has become a quality assurance of sorts, and with Interstellar, not only does Nolan deliver on sky high expectations, but he shoots past the thermosphere with one of the best films of the decade and one the most ambitious films since Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. This may sound like hyperbole, but Interstellar is truly a celebration of the beauty and power of cinema.
Interstellar doesn’t take its time setting the stage.  Once the film starts, we’re immediately thrust into a futuristic Earth that has become a planet-wide dust bowl. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) has been chosen to join a last-ditch effort to save humanity. He’s forced to leave his children Murph (Mackenzie Foy) and Tom (Timothée Chalamet) behind and to travel through a wormhole and into the unknown. What follows is a film-going experience like no other this year.
Christopher Nolan put a lot on his plate with Interstellar, and for the most part, he is able to juggle everything with considerable grace. My only real quibble is that this is a very dense film, it throws a lot at its audience at once, and it could easily overwhelm casual moviegoers with its exposition over theoretical physics. However, this doesn’t matter in the long run because though, for some, the film could be hard to follow at times, the film keeps us riveted with Oscar-caliber acting from a talented cast, an engrossing and deeply emotional central story, and exceptional visual effects and sound design.
Interstellar is a remarkable achievement. Not only does the film take the audience through a wide range of emotions, but it leaves us pondering profound questions about time, space, and the infinite beyond. This is an immensely ambitious film that not only serves as a visual and aural treat, but also manages to be deeply moving and thought-provoking.