Ever since Star Wars hit movie theaters in 1977, the science fiction genre has been dominated by epic stories of warring universes, big explosions, bigger explosions, and the most competitive special effects contest in the industry. But this June, in a film about one man and the empty moonscape that surrounds him, we are reminded that just as captivating as intergalactic space chases and skyscraper-jumping robot races is the journey through the soul of one man and the battle for something as simple as a return ticket home.

At the center of Moon is Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), an astronaut who is nearing the end of his three year contract at a Helium 3 harvesting station on the moon. With little ability to communicate with earth and his only companion an emoticon-animated robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), as Sam says, he just wants to go home. But with only two weeks left until his scheduled return and a chain of accidents and hallucinations culminating in Sam's discovery of injured man who looks remarkably like himself, what we quickly discover is that his return home may not be as simple as clicking together his ruby slippers. And as Sam begins to question everything from his sanity to his own existence, so unfolds a quiet tale of one man's search for identity, relationship, and an assurance of the value of life.

Although Moon is a movie that almost never sees more than one actor on screen at the same time, central to its story is relationship. As Sam dreams of his wife and reaches out to her image on his monitor, both his conscious and subconscious reflect a longing for companionship that almost overrides every other desire. As a disembodied voice tells him how proud he's made his family during his time there, we are told that even his superiors recognize the motivational power relationship provides whatever we spend our days doing. But with live communication perpetually down and relationship only known in memory, what we soon see is that the reality in which Sam lives simply cannot sustain him anymore.

Cue a shocking change of Sam's day-to-day reality when another man joins him on the space station. Although Sam previously went about his job with little question, with the arrival of the injured man, Sam's priorities shift. Although initially suspicious and on edge, the two men slowly move to a place of connection and understanding. For a time, Sam seeks to help the other man survive just as he has. But when the unfolding mysteries begin to make Sam think that all he has ever worked for may be no more than a cruel joke, he instead takes it upon himself to set the other man free.

A story about a man who literally mines the moon for the energy that will give mankind life, his deterioration outside of relationship, his hope of one day returning to relationship, and the actions that one man takes in order to help another do just that, Moon is a tale that reaches deep into what it means to be human and what it looks like to live. But in the same way that its story about one man alone on the moon is one that reaches out to all mankind, Moon is a film which cannot help but bring to mind the greater story of mankind and our relationship with God.

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