Movie · 2009 · Science Fiction, Drama · 1h 37m · R · English
Curator score: 6.9/10 (702.5K ratings)
250,000 miles from home, the hardest thing to face... is yourself.
Overview
With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.9/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.84/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 67
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
Duncan Jones
Production
Lunar Industries, Liberty Films, Xingu Films, Limelight Fund, Independent
Cast
Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw, Adrienne Shaw, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, Malcolm Stewart, Robin Chalk
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A smart, intimate sci-fi drama that uses a stripped-down lunar setting to explore identity, loneliness, and corporate dehumanization. Its biggest asset is Sam Rockwell’s layered performance, which carries the film’s emotional and psychological weight.
Best for
viewers who like cerebral, low-key science fiction
fans of isolated, one-location thrillers
people drawn to performance-driven films
audiences interested in identity and existential themes
Skip if
you want fast-paced action or constant spectacle
you prefer straightforward plotting over ambiguity
you dislike melancholy, solitary stories
you need a big ensemble or expansive worldbuilding
Overview
Moon is a compact, elegant piece of science fiction that gets a lot out of a very small setup. Rather than chasing scale, it builds tension from routine, repetition, and the slow collapse of certainty. The lunar base feels lived-in and lonely, and the film uses that isolation to make every discovery land harder.
Worth noting
Sam Rockwell gives the movie its pulse, playing off himself with humor, sadness, irritation, and deep fatigue. The performance turns what could have been a clever concept into something genuinely moving. GERTY adds a strange, disarming emotional texture, keeping the film from becoming purely clinical.
Bottom line
The story’s revelations are more unsettling than flashy, and the film is strongest when it stays focused on identity, labor, and what it means to be treated as replaceable. It may feel deliberately restrained to viewers expecting bigger twists or more action, but that restraint is exactly what makes it memorable.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lauren (4.5★) · 3427 likes
so you’re telling me we’re gonna keep like 17 sam rockwell’s stuck on the moon for YEARS, but the moment matt damon gets homesick we gotta stop everything and rescue him from mars?
bel (4★) · 2972 likes
Best actor in a leading role: Sam Rockwell
Best actor in a supporting role: Sam Rockwell
Sarah🐉 (4★) · 2248 likes
Pretty fucked up that the actress that played Sam Rockwell's daughter got paid to call him daddy a couple times when I do it for free every day of my life
doinkdedoink (3★) · 1832 likes
I really thought the two of them were gonna fuck at some point in the film
DirkH (4.5★) · 1472 likes
I love science fiction. Don't care if it's good, bad, smart, silly or stupid, if it's science fiction I'll give it a go. More often than not filmmakers treat the genre as an excuse to make an action film, filled to the brim with special effects. As fun as that usually is, it sells the genre short.
Science fiction is a 'literature of ideas'. It is about speculation and postulating ideas set in a (near) future. The fact that Moon… more I love science fiction. Don't care if it's good, bad, smart, silly or stupid, if it's science fiction I'll give it a go. More often than not filmmakers treat the genre as an excuse to make an action film, filled to the brim with special effects. As fun as that usually is, it sells the genre short.
Science fiction is a 'literature of ideas'. It is about speculation and postulating ideas set in a (near) future. The fact that Moon… more
2014 · Thriller, Science Fiction · 1h 29m · NR · Curator 6.5/10 (578.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, Night Flight Plus, Cineverse, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A compact, concept-first thriller that turns a small setting into a destabilizing identity crisis.