History Film / AdAstra

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Gray's ''Film/TheLostCityOfZ''. Both films are character studies about explorers venturing out into the great unknown in search of another world that face mortal dangers, strained relationships with family, fathers and sons reflecting the desires of the need to know more life out there, and marvelously [[SceneryPorn well done visuals]]. But where the two differ is in perspective and origin: ''Z'' was BasedOnATrueStory of the real life Percy Fawcett whereas ''Ad Astra'' was an original idea Gray had cooking in his noggin since 2011. On top of that, whereas ''Z'' was about a father searching for unknown civilizations and then having his son almost inheriting that desire, ''Ad Astra'' is about a father [[spoiler: who becomes a lunatic and the son, who is a fellow explorer, is terrified of becoming his dad due the actions his father committed]].

* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Touched upon with Roy who admits he once thought he'd enjoy not having people around and now can feel himself losing his grip on reality during his 79 day solo voyage between Mars and Neptune. [[spoiler: Turns out this has already happened to his father.]]

[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture In the near future]], the Solar System is struck by mysterious power surges of unknown origin, threatening the future of human life. After surviving an incident on an immense space antenna caused by one of these surges, Major Roy [=McBride=] is informed that the source of the surges has been traced to the "Lima Project" base, a space station orbiting Neptune where his father, Clifford, was stationed twenty-six years ago. And there's reason to believe that his father may still be alive. What follows is a race against time as he and Colonel Pruitt, an old friend of the senior [=McBride=], try to locate Roy's father and find out what exactly happened to the Lima Project.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Helen Lantos has her career ruined and the remaining crew of the Cepheus died just because Roy McBride had to reconnect with his daddy. Had he obeyed the order to go back to Earth after finishing his mission on Mars, the Cepheus crew would have probably destroyed the Lima ship anyways. McBride's punishment? Back on Earth he also gets to reconnect with his estranged wife instead of being arrested.

* EasilyForgiven: After everything he's done, [[spoiler:viewers would expect Roy to be court-martialed at best, if not shot outright upon his return to Earth. The ending shows him at a coffee shop reconnecting with his wife, implying that he at least maintained his freedom. Successfully saving all life in the solar system may have given him some leeway]].

* CastingGag: [[Film/{{Armageddon}} Once again]], Creator/LivTyler plays the SatelliteLoveInterest of an astronaut who goes on a dangerous mission to save the world by detonating a nuclear warhead in space.

* CasualInterplanetaryTravel: There are regular commercial flights from Earth to the colonised Moon, and then it's 19 days from the Moon to colonised Mars, and 79 days from Mars to Neptune.

* UnfitForGreatness: The ''Cepheus''' second captain [[spoiler:after the first one is killed by baboons]] expresses anxiety and cowardice from the very start that Roy picks up on immediately. This leads to [[spoiler:Roy having to take control of the ''Cepheus'' during a problematic landing on Mars due to the captain locking up in fear, but Roy afterwards promises not to report the incident to [=SpaceCom=].]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Clifford was absolutely dead-set on discovering alien life in deep space, believing it to be his destiny, at the expense of his family [[spoiler:(who he admits he never cared for and didn't miss during his decades out in space). He even considered his crew to be completely expendable (and killed several when they mutinied against his fruitless search) so long as he completed his mission.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The opening credits scrawl specifically says the film takes place in the not so distant future. However an adult claims to be born on Mars, so the film is set several decades after Mars was colonized.

* RecycledInSpace: The basic story is ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' in, well, space. Both feature a protagonist who must voyage beyond civilization to confront a man who seems to have gone insane and present a threat to his homeland. In both stories, the external voyage mirrors an internal journey of self-discovery.

* GratuitousLatin: Right in the title, which is Latin for "to the stars." The fact that nobody in the film ever travels further out than Neptune makes it a case of NeverTrustATitle. The phrase itself tends to show up a lot in [[PretentiousLatinMotto Pretentious Latin Mottos]], often as part of a longer phrase (''per aspera ad astra''), which is fitting for a show about astronauts facing hardships for the sake of exploration.

*** Their [[AsteroidThicket particle density]] is likely exaggerated too, as well as the particles' size, with data suggesting that most of their mass be micrometre-sized dust. However, data is very scarce on the subject, so this may simply be a case of pre-ScienceMarchesOn.

*** Similarly, the brawl aboard it also would have resulted in the fighters being PunchedAcrossTheRoom every time they dealt or received a blow.

* GreatOffScreenWar: When asked if he's seen combat, Roy cites "three years over the Arctic Circle." It's implied there's a SpaceColdWar going on [[NoBloodForPhlebotinum over resources]] with privateers being given safe haven by certain countries on the Moon.

''Ad Astra'' is a 2019 [[HardScienceFiction aesthetically Hard Science Fiction]] SpaceOpera [[GenreBusting with a dash of action/adventure]] written and directed by James Gray with Ethan Gross attached as a cowriter. The film stars Creator/BradPitt as Major Roy [=McBride=], Creator/TommyLeeJones as H. Clifford [=McBride=], Creator/LivTyler as Eve [=McBride=], Creator/RuthNegga as Helen Lantos, and Creator/DonaldSutherland as Colonel Pruitt.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Initially very hard but progressively softer as the film goes on. ''Ad Astra'' clearly tries to be as realistic as possible, but ultimately takes too many [[ArtisticLicensePhysics liberties with the laws of physics]] to be considered real hard scifi.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: The Norwegian research station that Roy investigates on his way to Mars is stated to be orbiting an asteroid. There are no asteroids in stable orbits between Earth and Mars (the asteroid belt is further out, between Mars and Jupiter), and there's no reason to tow one there just to have a space station zip around it.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ad_astra_ver2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"The world awaits our discovery, my son."'']]

* ColorContrast:
** Roy and Helen wear contrasting colors in their scenes together -- he wears white, she wears black.
** At the Lima station, there are multiple shots contrasting blue and yellow lighting.

* ExplosiveDecompression: Roy opens an airlock to dispatch [[spoiler: the killer primates.]] It results in LudicrousGibs.

* ExplosiveDecompression: Employed by Roy to dispatch [[spoiler: the killer primates.]] It results in LudicrousGibs.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29th, 2019 before enjoying a wider release by Creator/{{Disney}} under the Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox banner on September 20th, 2019.