To be honest, upon watching Interstellar for the first time ten years ago (or approximately 86 minutes on Miller’s Planet), I wasn’t in love with the film. The film’s first part is a bit of a slog but begins to pick up once we leave the planet and we begin our journey. I enjoyed it well enough because Christopher Nolan knows how to create an engrossing atmosphere and gorgeous imagery with an emotional score. After multiple rewatches and learning more about the film’s science, I began to appreciate it and found it fun to examine certain aspects of the film but I still didn’t love the film. However, it wasn’t until a rewatch while going through some personal trials and tribulations that a part of the movie really slapped me in the face where Interstellar became not only one of my favorites but also a film that constantly rattles around my brain from time to time.
At the heart of the narrative of Christoper Nolan’s film lies a character study of a former astronaut turned farmer named Cooper, portrayed with great depth by Matthew McConaughey. Earth is dying and Cooper has been tasked to journey into the outer reaches of space in order to find a suitable replacement to sustain life. As a father, especially a single one, that seems like the easy part. The difficult part is leaving behind his kids, particularly his 10-year-old daughter, Murphy, where their connection becomes the emotional nucleus of the story. He either ventures into the unknown in hopes to save all mankind missing out on time with his kids or he stays and enjoys whatever time he has with them while awaiting the impending doom. Sacrifices have to be made.
After Cooper decides to leave, Murphy pours her heart out for him to stay and he vows to return, Nolan takes us on an incredible odyssey through different galaxies while we visit unique planets as the race against time is exasperated the further they travel from Earth and closer they get to the supermassive black hole Gargantua. Seconds turn into days, minutes turn into years. We witness the magnitude of the time acceleration when Cooper and the crew arrive on the first incredible water planet where it is calculated that every hour spent on this planet is 7 years back on Earth.
To make rewatches more interesting, there is a little nugget composer Hans Zimmer placed in his incredible score of the film. There is a click, to simulate the ticking of a clock, in the score played through certain moments of the film that represents time passing in real time that correlates to time passing back on Earth. On Miller’s Planet, the click is every 1.41 seconds which equals one full day back on Earth. Once knowing this, it heightens the dread of losing time even more for me while watching these moments.
After barely surviving the water planet, they arrive back at their ship to learn that 23 years of Earth time has passed. Understandably shaken by this, Cooper sits down to watch multiple video transitions sent from his children covering those missed years. We experience each emotion with Cooper from the joy of a grandson to the hurt of Murphy’s absence to the remorse he feels during his daughter’s lone video where she states it’s her birthday and she is the same age as when her dad left her. Each video is a stark reminder of the moments missed and the toll of his absence, encapsulating the bittersweet essence of parenthood. It’s a sacrifice that cuts deep, yet it’s driven by an unwavering belief in securing a future for the next generation. Seconds turn into days, minutes turn into years.
I definitely felt 10-year-old Murph pleading for her father not to go but this was a sobering example of how time passes by with your children without even recognizing it. Everyone comments about how time flies, mostly in a joking manner, but sometimes the truth of that statement slaps us in the face harder than we expect. The simple and seemingly easy choice is to sacrifice now for a better tomorrow, right? But is the time sacrifice truly worth the reward? For Cooper and the crew, they came up empty, and 23 years have been wasted so far. The only option is to continue the journey and head to the next planet in hopes of more answers.
As they hit another dead end and more drama unfolds, 51 years has now been lost back on Earth. In parallel, we witness Murphy’s own journey, played with remarkable depth by Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy. Her fierce determination to unravel the mysteries of the universe mirrors her father’s quest, highlighting the father and daughter bond that transcends the vastness of space. Despite the distance that separates them, their connection remains unbroken even though they are separated by millions of light years.
Nolan’s narrative grapples with the complexities of human existence through the lens of interstellar travel as he poses philosophical questions about our place in the universe and the legacy we leave behind. However, there is a simpler yet more profound theme that has been itching the inside of my mind since this particular watch, and it has resonated with me. Parental sacrifice.
Cooper thought he was doing what was best for not only his family but also the world as a whole for a better future. Even with the magnitude of mankind facing extinction, there is a moment where he regrets the choice he made while he is in the wormhole and he is able to revisit the moment he tells his 10-year-old daughter he’s leaving. She is understandably upset and future Cooper begs and pleads for past Cooper to stay. He knows then that it would have been better to have stayed and spent that time with his kids rather than go on this empty journey.
Reflecting on this, I recognized that sacrifices will be made for every parent’s decision for themselves or their children. The question is which sacrifices are you able to live with when you are in the wormhole looking back at these moments in time? Working long hours to provide for your family and have material things. Missing your kid’s events to make sure you can afford the lifestyle you have chosen? Are the choices we make as parents acts of love or selfish acts? Are they worth it? Being too tired to toss the ball around. Playing video games. Scrolling on the phone. Not being around at all. The possible empty choices are endless.
It is wild how much space this theme has dominated my thoughts and how much this movie has grown as a conversation piece for me, especially with my adult son. The Blade Runner quote “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain” resonates with me here. The moments are going to fade anyway but what is your legacy of those moments with your kids? All of this made me examine and even struggle with some of my decisions in my past, but it also woke me to the present and the choices I can make going forward. Seconds turn into days. Minutes turn into years.
