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Moon

United Kingdom

2009

97 Min
Color
2.35:1
English
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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DIR Duncan Jones

EXEC Trevor Beattie, Bil Bungay, Michael Henry, Bill Zysblat

PROD Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler

SCR Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker

DP Gary Shaw

CAST Sam Rockwell, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, Kevin Spacey, Malcolm Stewart, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario, Rosie Shaw, Adrienne Shaw, Robin Chalk

ED Nicolas Gaster

PROD DES Tony Noble

MUSIC Clint Mansell

Sundance (Premieres), San Francisco (New Directors), Tribeca (Spotlight), Edinburgh (British Gala): Best New British Film, SXSW (Spotlight Premieres)

Synopsis

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is the lone astronaut stationed at a Helium-mining moon base that has been his home for almost three years. But Sam’s contract with Lunar Industries is almost up, and soon he will be able to reunite on Earth with his wife and three-year-old daughter, who he has only been able to communicate with through taped messages. The closest thing he gets to interaction is with “Gerty,” (voiced by Kevin Spacey) the base’s computer. Suddenly Sam begins to experience painful headaches and hallucinations that lead him to crash his lunar rover. When he wakes up, he meets a younger, angrier version of himself who claims to be fulfilling the same three-year contract Sam had started years before. Confused, Sam must unravel the mystery of his real role—and that of this new man, seemingly a clone—at Lunar Industries.

Moon is a unique character study set in a science-fiction thriller. In his feature debut, director Duncan Jones superbly handles the intimacy of the film, set in one place with essentially one character. This claustrophobic setting, along with Sam Rockwell’s engaging performance, enhances the mysterious aura of the film. Rockwell brings subtle intricacies to both characters he plays—they’re obvious opposites, sure, but Rockwell subtly exposes their similarities. —Tribeca Film Festival, http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Moon.html

Director

Original

Duncan Jones

Duncan Zowie Jones (born 30 May 1971), also known as Zowie Bowie or Joey Bowie, is an English film director, best known for directing the 2009 film Moon. He is the son of rock star David Bowie.

Duncan is the only child from the marriage of David Bowie (legal name David Robert Jones) and his first wife, the former American model Mary Angela Barnett. He was born at Beckenham Hospital in South London. His son’s birth prompted Bowie to write the song “Kooks” for his 1971 album Hunky Dory. Duncan Jones is the half-brother of Alexandria “Lexi” Jones (born 2000), from his father’s second marriage to the fashion model Iman, and Stacia Larranna Celeste Lipka (born 1980), from his mother’s relationship with musician Drew Blood (né Andrew Lipka). He also has a stepsister, Zulekha Haywood (born 1978), who is the daughter of Iman and former NBA basketball player Spencer Haywood, Iman’s second husband.

As a child, Jones spent time growing up in Berlin, London, and Vevey, Switzerland… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 171 wall posts.
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AKFilmFan

3May13

Jones' directorial debut takes inspiration from 2001, adds a story focused on complex ideas, and has a phenomenal performance by Rockwell that this superior sci-fi film becomes an underrated gem that'll hopefully grow in stature as the years go by.

Picture of subtonal

subtonal

12Apr13

Um...isn't this just a complete rip off of 2001??

Picture of ElTigreNegro

ElTigreNegro

19Mar13

Avoids all the traps and cliches of the genre and becomes a honest, emotive movie.

Picture of Bert Corten

Bert Corten

8Mar13

watched this one again. sheer stylistic genius. and sam rockwell is brilliant.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 4043 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

The Auteurs Daily: Toronto. Leaves of Grass and Youth in Revolt

By David Hudson on September 20, 2009

"In Leaves of Grass, Edward Norton plays classically dissimilar twin brothers - Brady is id, Bill is superego - who come together after a long

read article
W184

pages from a cold island: STARSTRUCK

By Neil Young on August 8, 2009

Above: Laetitia Guerard and Leora Barbara in Sylvie Verheyde's Stella (Verheyde, France). "It's never too soon // To tread the boardsI was

read article

Tribeca Film Festival: MOON Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Co-writer/director Duncan Jones’ debut feature Moon (2009) is a modest but nonetheless exciting bit of derivative speculative fiction. As the film’s vision of the future is obviously cobbled together from
read on Twitchfilm.com

SXSW Review: Duncan Jones' MOON

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
The following statement is true but it might be hard to believe. There is a serious science fiction movie headed for theaters in 2009 that does not feature guns, monsters, zombies or CG enhanced, slow
read on Twitchfilm.com

Sitges 09: MOON Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
moon duncan jones sam rockwell kevin spacey science fiction…
read on Twitchfilm.com

SXSW Review: Duncan Jones' MOON

By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
The following statement is true but it might be hard to believe. There is a serious science fiction movie headed for theaters in 2009 that does not feature guns, monsters, zombies or CG enhanced, slow
read on Twitchfilm.net

Tribeca Film Festival: MOON Review

By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
Co-writer/director Duncan Jones’ debut feature Moon (2009) is a modest but nonetheless exciting bit of derivative speculative fiction. As the film’s vision of the future is obviously cobbled together from
read on Twitchfilm.net

Sitges 09: MOON Review

By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
moon duncan jones sam rockwell kevin spacey science fiction
read on Twitchfilm.net

Lists

Displaying 5 of 642 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 4 of 21

Moon

By Nick Da Costa on December 13, 2011

Unlike most modern sci-fi where the terror comes from without, with any philosophical trappings lost to the crash of spectacle, the threat in Duncan Jones’ masterful Moon comes from within. Soaked…  read review

Ca aurait pu être mieux

By Benoît on May 11, 2011

Forcément, comme j’ai plutôt bien accroché à Source Code, j’étais très intéressé par Moon. C’est moins bon que le second film du cinéaste, il faut bien l’avouer, mais il faut aussi reconnaître qu’il…  read review

Extremely overrated

By Conner Rainwat​er on May 30, 2010

It’s a good movie with a lot of interesting ideas, it just didn’t follow through. There is way too much time spent on effects shots, which honestly aren’t anything to brag about. The other issue I…  read review

The Best film of 2009 hands down!

By Zach Anderso​n on May 20, 2010

Moon isn’t a complicated film; not really. People will tell you it is, but it isn’t. It’s not existential. It’s not ponderous. It is really very simple.
Watch Sam Rockwell.
That’s it.
Nothing…  read review

Forum

Displaying 2 discussion topics.

Director Duncan Jones (Moon) sent me a twitter message

12 posts by 8 people almost 3 years ago

Moon and why I did not like it (Spoilers inside)

42 posts by 27 people over 3 years ago