Drama

Approaching the Unknown

DramaSci-FiThriller

A U.S. astronaut prepares for a mission to Mars.

Year

2016

Duration

1h 30m

IMDb

4.9

Trailer

Cast

Mark Strong

William D. Stanaforth

Luke Wilson

Louis 'Skinny' Skinner (CapCom)

Sanaa Lathan

Emily Maddox

Anders Danielsen Lie

Greenstreet

Charles Baker

Worsely

SB

Steven Brower

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

SG

Stephanie Gould

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

FL

Franziska Lamprecht

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

AL

Amanda Larson

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

Whit K. Lee

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

SJ

St. John McKay

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

James O'Connell

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

MO

Michael O'Connell

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

CO

Clare O'Connell

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

NP

Neel Patel

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

AS

Adam Steltzner

Featured in Civilian Astronaut Footage

MP

Mandy Parton

Featured in Teacher

MP

Mandy Parton

Student Footage

HG

Hannah Glenn

Featured in Teacher

HG

Hannah Glenn

Student Footage

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Comments

10 comments

Thany Of NigeriaJun 14, 2025

This movie is good. I honestly understand the bad rating, because its not mainstream and you need to understand the "zen-spirit" of it.You need to have sensitivity and some wisdom to appreciate a movie like this.Its atmospheric and poetic.Lets you experience space from an angle of basic reality and not heroism nor action. The slow descend into madness, his monologues, it is good. A good story isn't about a lot of action, a lot of events, it lies in the subtleties and how they come together. Just a good movie. I guess, blade runner also had a bad reception when it was released. This movie is perhaps not meant for this generation of action spoiled viewers. I really hope this will get some appreciation along the line, so that we may see more of this quality. Real sci-fi fans will love this movie for what it is.

Ihssan kadaMay 29, 2023

source: Approaching the Unknown

user7755760881469Nov 22, 2022

This is my first ever movie review but I'm a deep thinker so i felt compelled after stumbling across all the bad ones on this website, I read a bunch and they were either "the movie was boring" or "it was technically absurd" I'm not going to criticize the critics. If you ever dared to dream or imagine of going to mars or any planet! either for the adventure or escapism or both then this film is a brilliant work of art designed solely to massage that part of your brain, for the adventure side it reminds me of the tale of Scott of the Antarctic for the escapism that reminds me of me, Mark Strong was a good chose for the role, without giving too much away, he conveys the "possible emotions" captivatingly well and then just when you think the film is going to turn into a USA traditional cheese fest it gives you something else something profound that tickles the hairs on the back of your neck. In summery it is a "marmite" you'll love it or hate it but I'm glad it didn't read any reviews before watching it.

مهوته😋Nov 22, 2022

What can be better than sitting back and watching a thought provoking movie about space and human emotion? Other viewers don't seem to understand that not every movie on the subject of space and the universe can be a big budget movie with a Matt Daman or a Kubrick. Lets be honest you probably got this movie from a Redbox, didn't you? For 2 dollars you got a hell of a movie. If you are like I am and like to lounge around and think about the universe and all of its glory then you will enjoy this movie. The greatest strength of this movie is that the atmosphere was on point, in the sense that you truly didn't know what was about to happen next, as I imagine space would be. The biggest weakness was Luke Wilson's character, Skinny. He really brought nothing to the table whatsoever and could have been made much more interesting and worthwhile.

❤️Delhi_Wali❤️Nov 22, 2022

I am coming across a lot of criticism for this movie. If you are expecting another Matt Damon Martian movie do not watch this movie. In fact if you thought the Martian was a good movie I don't think this movie is for you. The film is set in space. It involves a mission to Mars. This however is really a secondary story and largely irrelevant. The film deals with Mans struggle with mental illness , his descent into madness, people trying to reach him and save him and his final decision on whether or not to commit suicide. I enjoyed the film immensely. The scene on-board the space station is brilliant . It sets you up for the journey you are about to embark on with the Commander. The ship that the commander is piloting to Mars seems to be merely a physical representation of his own brain. Worth a watch.

France NancyNov 22, 2022

Following the success of movies like Moon, someone thought it would be a good idea to try with a movie about a mission towards Mars. Mark Strong starts off as an astronaut that is sent there and thinks about his place in the world and talks to people on Earth. It got me excited. Yet by the end I couldn't decide if I am to feel stupid or offended. Alarm bells started to ring in my mind almost immediately. The personality of the guy was unstable to being cowboyish. The science didn't add up. The atmospheric dye effects had no connection to space or to the story. The water got contaminated by a battery short?! The astronaut's motivation to go to Mars was specifically because he liked the feeling of dying. I mean, come on! But even with all this aside - and I am capable to putting aside the technical aspects - the film is actually saying nothing concrete. Should we abandon going to space because it is folly or is it that the writer has so little faith in NASA that he thinks all astronauts will be allowed to be depressed artists that write their journal with pencils and feel lonely in space? Is there a point to all the inner dialogues of the guy or is he just losing his mind in this really slow movie? We don't know. Bottom line: I liked the production values of the film and the acting, but I couldn't get my head around what the writer/director was trying to say. It's time artsy folk understand that not only engineers are a completely different type of people from them, but that writing and directing your own movie is only rarely a good idea.

melaniamanjateNov 22, 2022

This movie was great. I honestly do not understand the rating. I grew up with sci-fi, I've read many of the greats. The slow descend into madness, his monologues, it is just brilliant. A good story isn't about a lot of action, a lot of events, it lies in the subtleties and how they come together. Just a brilliant movie. I guess, bladerunner also had a bad reception when it was released. This movie is perhaps not meant for this generation of action spoiled viewers. I really hope this will get some appreciation along the line, so that we may see more of this quality. Real sci-fi fans will love this movie for what it is.

36 🐵𝗹 𝗺 𝗳 𝗿 𝘄 𝗲 7Nov 22, 2022

I can see why 'Approaching the Unknown' would not be to everyone's liking. It's very much a slow-burner of a film and is really more of a character study than anything else. With space movies I think people have come to expect drama filled, save-the-world type films and this is simply not that. This is the story of a man who has embarked on a mission that very few people on Earth would be brave enough to do, and the struggle he consequently went through. I actually quite enjoyed it for the most part. A film with basically only one character is never going to be the most exhilarating watch, however the pacing of the film doesn't feel overly slow. Mark Strong in the lead role does a good job of being just interesting enough in what would have been a very tough role to take on. As mentioned, this won't be for everyone. People who go into this expecting an 'Armegeddon' or even 'Gravity' type film are going to be let down and I suspect that is a lot of the reason why this film has not been received very well. However if you go in simply expecting a solid exploration of astronaut life and the challenges they can go through mentally, I think you will find yourself quite enjoying this one.

MouradkissiNov 22, 2022

This movie is not for everyone,especially for those who think that a good Sci-Fi movie MUST have action and heroism and they do not appreciate story and writing in the movie, they just love the action with a little pale, soft and weak drama blockbusters (The Martian). You will find similarities in atmosphere and story with Europa Report, Love, Moon and even some scenery references to 2001 A Space Odyssey and Tree of Life. I admit the visual effects weren't much, I assume it is because of the low budget(effects are not all that matters) but they were beautiful and mysterious just like in Odyssey and Love. For those who claim that the movie is scientifically inaccurate: The Martian had SOUND AND EXPLOSIONS in space (good job, really good job Ridley Scott nice way of making some blockbuster money). SPOILER ALERT: I think there is more to the story than it meets the eye. It's not all black and white and not so obvious.You need to dig deeper into the story to find the true meaning and idea. I think that he never really went to space because he never left the desert alive,and his machine didn't work (he couldn't convert dirt to water as it was shown in a flashback) so this was his 'soul' journey to achieving the one thing that no one has ever accomplished. Being the first human to set foot on a another planet.That would explain all the mysterious space scenery on his way to Mars (Earth- Human Life, Journey to Mars-Bridge to eternity, Mars-representing the afterlife). As he revealed to us in the end of the movie: "Nothing has ever lived here. Nothing has ever died here. Maybe I'll live forever". He finally found his peace.

Mustapha NdureNov 22, 2022

Contains Spoilers! I was keen to watch this movie. I like Mark Strong, but boy oh boy this was a true waste of my time. I can only imagine the budget was in the order of a few hundred thousand dollars. This was not a tale about greatness or rising to an unimaginable challenge, it was a tale of failure and allowing yourself to be beat. An entire mission is dependent on a machine to work that has been designed and built from scratch by our hero. Sent off into the cosmos on his own, with someone following close behind - on their own, most of the movie takes place in a 4x5m area of the space ship. Some shots of the area of space he was travelling through on the way to Mars were through various nebulae and other amazing star cluster formations, but needless to say non of that exists within at least 10- 20 light years of Earth and certainly not in our solar system between Earth and Mars. When the machine stops working the man who has thought it up, designed it, built it the Hero cannot get it working again and resigns himself to a depressing bout of failure, which he never gets out of. Despite all the promises of what might be the two minutes at the end of the landing and walking on Mars appear to have been thrown in as a last minute after thought. I do not have time to write many reviews but this was so bad I was compelled to put fingers to keyboard. Save your time and money watch 'The Martian' instead.