YMMV / Ad Astra

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The very random and sudden detour to the Norwegian research station that results in Roy and the captain of the Cepheus being attacked by mad baboons. Aside from killing the captain, which could have been achieved in a number of less bizarre ways, and Roy briefly referring to the incident in his musings on masculinity and his connection to others, the scene seems completely disconnected from the film's overall tone, plot and themes, feeling more like something out of a sci-fi horror story than an otherwise slow-paced, character-driven drama.
• Critical Dissonance: The film has been praised by critics, but audiences are much less receptive (B- on CinemaScore, 83% critic score vs 40% audiences score on Rotten Tomatoes). While critics praised the story and acting, general audiences felt the film was too slow paced, which made it quickly become boring.
• Fan Nickname: The film is sometimes called Dad Astra, for the combination of space and parental issues.
• Moral Event Horizon: Some years into the Lima Project, members of the crew decided they wanted to return home and attempted to force the issue, causing Dr. McBride to shut off life support for a section of the station to stop them. While them being in a state of mutiny might make this more palatable, the line is crossed when we find out McBride also killed a significant portion of the crew that weren't rebelling and feels absolutely no remorse for doing so.
• Narm:
  • The scene on the derelict Norwegian research station is meant to be horrifying, but the fact that it involves Brad Pitt fighting killer baboons in space in an otherwise fairly grounded and low-key sci-fi drama is just too bizarre to take it completely seriously. It gets even more ridiculous in the following scene, when Roy reflects on the incident by saying "The attack, it was full of rage. I understand that rage. I've seen that rage in my father." It's clearly meant to sound deep and tie into the film's theme of obsession and parental abandonment, but there's something comical about Roy comparing his father, whom he idolizes, to a monkey.
  • The hilariously inept manner in which the Cepheus' crew kill themselves while trying to capture Roy is likely to produce laughter rather than shock.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Lost City of Z. 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 well done visuals. But where the two differ is in perspective and origin: Z was Based on a True Story 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 who becomes a lunatic and the son, who is a fellow explorer, is terrified of becoming his dad due the actions his father committed.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Between the film's pessimistic view of space travel, its dour protagonist, the eventual revelation that humanity is alone in the universe, and the lack of any humor whatsoever, it's easy to lose interest in the outcome of the story.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Roy stows away aboard a crucial mission, risking the future of humanity and killing the other crew members (albeit indirectly and accidentally), just for the sake of trying to reconcile with his Disappeared Dad. And the eventual outcome — Clifford's death and the destruction of the Lima Project — would have been exactly the same had he not been involved at all, except that those crew members would presumably still be alive. That said, Roy does warn the crew that they will not make it without him, presumably due to the incompetent second-in-command being promoted to the role of their captain. It's likely that the mission would have ended in disaster without Roy's involvement. Considering they panicked and all managed to kill themselves within minutes of the first sign of trouble Roy's doubt in their abilities seems justified.

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