Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for “Interstellar.”
Christopher Nolan’s latest foray into filmmaking comes in the form of “Interstellar” — a film that spanned across time and space, changing the way people think about their place on Earth and the universe. It’s a film that reminds viewers to look at the sky and contemplate their beliefs in God, the cosmos and heavens above.
But, at its heart, “Interstellar” is a film about how much people care about their families.
“It was apparent to me early on that this was about family, about parents and children,” said the film’s star Matthew McConaughey, according to an article from The Courier-Post. “And I think that’s obviously where the aorta of the film lies.”
“Interstellar,” which grossed $56.2 million this weekend, Forbes reported, follows the journey of Cooper (McConaughey), a farmer and widower caring for his two children, Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and Murph (Mackenzie Foy). When dust storms threaten the crops and farmland of agriculture workers everywhere — in a world that doesn’t have any land wars and cares more about growing food than education — Cooper is met by his old professor, who enlists him to head to the stars and save humanity from extinction.
Cooper’s journey is always grounded in his desire to get back to his family. He makes promises to them that he’ll see them again — even if they’re much older when he gets back.
Cooper’s journey kept the film grounded and relatable, even when it took viewers into the far reaches of space and deep into scientific theories, Nolan told Metro News.
“When I first looked at (co-writer and brother) Jonah’s draft on ’Interstellar,’ it was very clear that at the heart of the story there was this great family relationship,” Mr. Nolan said to Metro News. “We found the more we explored the cosmic scale of things and the further out into the universe you went, the more the focus came down to who we are as people and what are the connections between us.”
That hits on Cooper’s motivation throughout the film. He wants to help humankind survive and save his children. Cooper is willing to take leaps outside of reality just so he can get back home to family.
At the end of the film, Cooper finds himself in a new place where he can influence space and time, and it’s there where he’s able to communicate with his daughter Murph again and share what he has learned. Only through connecting with his family can he save humankind.
Similarly, Anne Hathaway’s character, Brand, searches the deep reaches of space for a long-lost loved one, a fellow scientist who went on a similar journey as she. Like Cooper, Brand’s motivation to save humankind is to reach someone she loved who she’s lost. Like she says, love — no matter who it’s for — transcends time and space.
The film also talks about how a parent’s instincts come into play when close to death. People experience death dreams — or, life review, where their life flashes before their eyes before death — because it motivates them to stay alive for their families, according to Cinema Blend.
“They determine that when a person is dying, they see their children,” the theory says. “This human connection prompts us — mankind — to fight death, to struggle to stay alive longer. We want to see our kids again.”
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