TL;DR – A film that is fundamentally frustrating, but even with all that, you can’t help but get caught up in the emotion.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

The Moon Review –

Today we have a fundamentally exciting film because it strikes two vast divides. On the one hand, it was a compelling work of fiction that captured my imagination and emotions. However, it was also an entirely frustrating endeavour at times. These two halves should not work in the same film, but today we see an example where it does.

So to set the scene, in 2029, five years after South Korea decided to strike out on their own in the space race that led to their first mission exploding and killing all three astronauts, they are back for a second attempt. Everything has gone well as the craft approaches the Moon until a large coronal explosion from the Sun fries everything onboard. Lee Sang-won (Kim Rae-won) and Cho Yoon-jong (Lee Yi-kyung) have exited to fix the ship when tragedy befalls them, and Hwang Sun-woo (Doh Kyung-soo) is left alone on a failing vessel where no one can help.   

Before we get into the narrative of this film, where we find our divide, I want to take a moment to champion the visual effects. This is a visually stunning film and one of the best depictions of the Moon I have seen on the big screen. You feel the dangers of space but also its wonder and opportunity. It sucks you in with every moment as you wish you would be able to be there and see. They capture that feeling with good use of cinematography and editing, knowing when to hold your scene and when to let the action flow. Which makes those action scenes feel as tense as they should be.

I also must give full props to Doh Kyung-soo, who must carry so much of this film on his shoulders. There is a fine line between incompetent and unprepared, and you feel him walk the line throughout the film. Everyone else in the movie is playing to a specific type, and on that front, they succeed. However, I just wanted to punch that minister (Jo Han-chul) in the face, like it was a powerful compulsion towards the film’s end.

Part of what makes this film work is that you want to see Hwang Sun-woo make it through the film. Those moments when he lands on the Moon were breathtaking up there with Ad Astra and First Man. This is supported by a scenario, and framing that up until the final act feels mostly plausible. I mean, that harness in the lander looked suspect the moment you saw it, but other than that. You get caught up in the attempts to save, in the acts of heroism, and I was utterly captivated right up to shedding more than a few tears.  

However, as much as I want to champion this film, these moments kept ripping me out of the narrative. To start with, I don’t understand NASA’s actions at all in the movie. In reality, they would have helped right away. It would have looked bad if they didn’t. Also, they are bound by international customary law to help. But even if they were as antagonistic as they were purported to be in this film, they still would have helped because coming in to save the Korean astronaut would have fundamentally shown that Korea was not ready to go alone, which was the primary motivator behind their actions. Not helping makes no sense either way.

It feels like nearly everyone in this film is incompetent in some way. Some comically so. If it were just the politicians, that would have been fine, but it is kind of everyone. This slows down the narrative, and the final act especially drags to a crawl with added complications from the second landing onwards that didn’t need to be there and start stretching believability. Also, it was just one line of dialogue, but I think they fundamentally misunderstood the Outer Space Treaty.

In the end, do we recommend The Moon? I want to say yes unreservedly. However, while it is a delight when it works well. It is a frustrating mess when it falls apart. If you liked The Moon, we would recommend The Martian.    

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched The Moon?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Moon
Directed by – Kim Yong-hwa
Written by – Kim Yong-hwa
Music by – Jae-hak Lee
Production/Distribution Companies – Vlad Studio, CJ ENM & Little Monster Entertainment
Starring – Doh Kyung-soo, Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Hee-ae, Jo Han-chul, Park Byung-eun, Choi Byung-mo, Kim Rae-won, Lee Yi-kyung & Lee Sung-min    
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; South Korea: 12