I kept telling myself to write this review, because I didn’t want others to miss out on it. I’ve been putting it off, mostly because of the new job, but now’s a good time as any to give my impressions of Moon.

I had no idea of the film’s existence until I saw a quick preview of it on Current TV’s Rotten Tomatoes show (awesome cable station, BTW). Set in the future, the film thrusts you right into the life of Sam Bell, played by Sam Rockwell, an employee of Lunar industries at the end of his 3 year contract to mine helium-3 from the moon, an energy source that powers much of planet Earth. He is the sole worker on the station, his only companion being the computer robot Gerty (voiced by, that’s right, Kevin Spacey).

So, I’m thinking, this guy must be on the brink of a psychotic breakdown due to the prolonged isolation and tedious repetition of his duties. He has a wife and daughter back home whom he communicates with via recorded messages—the live feed satellite has been broken down apparently and isn’t on the company’s priority list of things to repair. At first he seems to be managing well on his own… until he is visited by a strange hallucination of a woman sitting in his chair in the rec room. He burns his hand from hot water from the apparent vision, but he quickly dismisses the vision, choosing not to tell Gerty about it. Sam sees the girl again on a routine excursion outside to the harvesting machine, only to crash his rover and blacks out.

This is where things start to get a bit crazy. The next scene we see is Sam waking up in the infirmary, hindered by slight memory loss about what happened. He soon recovers, but is locked inside the base by Lunar headquarters for his “own safety.” Not happy being cooped-up like a child, Sam concocts a way to trick Gerty into letting him out. When he ventures outside, he comes across the wreckage. Looking inside, he discovers… HIMSELF. It’s the same one that was in the crash. He wasn’t rescued. Yeah, that’s right, there are TWO SAM BELLS.

The rest of the movie is Sam and Sam interacting and trying to puzzle out what the hell is going on. Has Sam finally lost it? Is Sam a clone? Did Sam desperately imagine himself rescuing himself? Apparently, the second Sam (that woke up in the infirmary) is the younger version, thinking that he is just beginning his 3 year contract. He’s more immature, brash, and easy to upset. The older Sam is more calm and collected. I think Rockwell does an excellent job interacting with himself. They are two very different characters, and I hardly noticed the split screen effect to put himself in to places (like what Michael Fox did in Back to the Future II).

Oh yeah, SPOILER AHEAD. You will want to dismiss the theory that Gerty is an evil computer a la Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey. You’ll learn soon enough that Gerty only has good intentions and just wants to help Sam(s). And it’s kind of cute how he expresses himself through simple emoticons.

I don’t want to give away the ending, because this is a film I highly suggest you check out. It’s been lost among all the summer blockbusters, not getting much press. I think that works to its advantage though. This is a great word-of-mouth, possible cult-classic. It is an awesome science fiction film… if not a rare one that doesn’t rely on aliens, time travel, and outrageous space battles. Almost reminds me of Sunshine at some points. Actually, I like to compare that Sunshine is energetic and action packed like the sun, while Moon is a bit more mellow and thought provoking… like the moon!

I’d rate it 9/10. I saw it twice! Catch it while you can, if it’s playing in your area! If anything, check out the trailer!