Ad Astra
Movie, 2019, The Near Future, Set in The near future
Ad Astra is #17 of 18 in release order and #11 of 18 in chronological order in the Space Movies.
The story
The near future, a time when both hope and hardships drive humanity to look to the stars and beyond. While a mysterious phenomenon menaces to destroy life on planet Earth, astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across the immensity of space and its many perils to uncover the truth about a lost expedition that decades before boldly faced emptiness and silence in search of the unknown.
Ad Astra recap
In the near future, astronaut Roy McBride, famous for keeping his pulse steady in any danger, survives a fall from a space antenna during a power surge that strikes Earth. Space Command tells him the surges come from the Lima Project near Neptune, led by his father Clifford, a hero thought to have died there sixteen years ago. Roy is sent to Mars by way of the Moon, where raiders attack his convoy, to broadcast a message to his father. On the way, a supply ship's crew is killed by baboons used as test animals. On Mars, Helen Lantos, whose parents died on Lima, shows him that his father killed the crew who tried to come home. Roy learns he will be removed from the mission and a nuclear strike sent instead.
Ad Astra ending explained
Roy hijacks the ship to Neptune, where he finds his father, old and lost, still searching for alien life. Roy sets the bomb, and his father asks to be let go, floating off into space. Roy uses the blast to sail home, lets people in at last, and reconnects with his estranged wife Eve.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Ad Astra
Ad Astra is streaming on Netflix, fuboTV, YouTube TV, and FXNow in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 83%
Where it fits
- Release order: after First Man, before Project Hail Mary.
- Chronological order: after Mission to Mars, before Project Hail Mary.
Cast
- Brad Pitt as Roy McBride
- Tommy Lee Jones as H. Clifford McBride
- Liv Tyler as Eve
- Ruth Negga as Helen Lantos
- Donald Sutherland as Thomas Pruitt
- Kimberly Elise as Lorraine Deavers
- Loren Dean as Donald Stanford
- Donnie Keshawarz as Captain Lawrence Tanner
- Sean Blakemore as Willie Levant
- Bobby Nish as Franklin Yoshida
- LisaGay Hamilton as Adjutant General Vogel
- John Finn as Brigadier General Stroud
Directed by James Gray.