Review of Lucy in the Sky

Natalie Portman is Outstanding in this film about a tightly-wound, super-achiever astronaut whose life flips on its end once she returns to earth from space. It's based on a true story but it's really an elegant psychological film that shows Lucy's state of mind as it unravels. Critics are taking issue with the shifting aspect ratios in the film but I had no problem with it - it was an effect I have never seen used before in a film and although I didn't love it (it did somewhat draw attention to itself) it pretty much worked. The cinematography overall reflected her state of mind and was elegant and ethereal. The supporting performances are also OUTSTANDING. Jon Hamm is terrific as the womanizing astronaut and Dan Stevens is unrecognizable as her clean-cut husband. The only character that's a bit of a cypher is the niece, who seems a little lost in the movie and doesn't really communicate any particular point of view. Is she upset about her aunt's antics? We aren't sure. The actress is a little too passive in the role I think and therefore the relationship between then doesn't quite come off. But the other performances are really great. Overall, it's a thoughtful film that wrestles with a woman's humanness in the face of her own existential dilemma: do the rules I have been following all my life really mean anything? Have I been achieving my whole, becoming almost superhuman, only to to end up a regular old human after all, humbled by the cosmos. 7/10