10 years ago, Christopher Nolan made his most emotional movie ever. Here’s why it’s still the best

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Director Christopher Nolan‘s epic sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar premiered in theaters 10 years ago this week. This sprawling space odyssey follows astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and his team as they venture through a wormhole to find a new planet for humanity to inhabit as it faces extinction due to Earth’s growing blight.

Though it is not as highly revered as The Dark Knight, Inception, or Oppenheimer, Interstellar continues to be one of the best films Nolan ever directed. Nominated for five Academy Awards, such a sprawling, dazzling, and emotional film made for the best astronaut movie since Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nolan’s masterpiece already has a devoted following, but it’s important to remind audiences why Interstellar is such a beloved and groundbreaking sci-fi epic.

Hans Zimmer’s score supports the movie’s epic scope

Interstellar Main Theme - Extra Extended - Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

In one of his many collaborations with Nolan, legendary composer Hans Zimmer delivered another iconic score for Interstellar. Using a church pipe organ in the film’s music, Zimmer succeeds in building up the intensity and religious awe of the story. The music perfectly underscores how Cooper and his team slip the surly bonds of Earth and explore the wonders of the heavens themselves.

Arguably one of the composer’s best works, Interstellar‘s score deserved more than just an Academy Award nomination, but it still helped cement the film’s place in cinema history.

The stellar performances

Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathway curiously stare next to each other in a scene from "Interstellar."

Interstellar has McConaughey leading an all-star cast consisting of Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, Topher Grace, and Matt Damon. It also featured early performances of current young stars like Timothée Chalamet and Mackenzie Foy.

True to their status, each actor delivers an engaging performance in this film. However, McConaughey gives the performance of his life as protagonist Joseph Cooper, tugging at viewers’ heartstrings as the character is forced to watch his daughter, Murph, grow up without him. Chastain similarly carries the film with her portrayal of Murph, who has the world on her shoulders back on Earth.

Interstellar’s groundbreaking visuals are still impressive

A planet approaching a supermassive black hole in "Interstellar."

True to his classical style of filmmaking, Christopher Nolan limits his use of computer-generated imagery in bringing this film to life, going as practical with the effects as possible. Like sci-fi classics such as Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar uses miniatures to present the spaceships on-screen. But the models aren’t just small-scale; even the giant Tesseract that Cooper enters during the film’s trippy climax is 100% real.

The spacecraft Endurance in "Interstellar."

Considering the vibrant scope of this cosmic film, Nolan was still forced to use some CGI. However, he went above and beyond with the visual effects, presenting a jaw-dropping wormhole and a black hole under the scientific guidance of physicist Kip Thorne.

Such extraordinary imagery immerses its audience in this adventure through space, effectively presenting the beauty and terror of the unknown. Unsurprisingly, Interstellar won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and it remains a gold standard for how to do CGI in sci-fi.

The movie tells an intelligent, heartfelt story

Cooper floating in a tesseract in "Interstellar."

Visual effects alone can’t attract all audiences. Like many of Nolan’s other films, Interstellar presents an ambitious narrative that plays with the audience’s perception of reality. While Memento and Inception tackled memory and dreams, respectively, Interstellar explores humanity’s perception of time in a mind-bending story that sends its heroes across space and history.

At the same time, Interstellar presents a dark picture of Earth’s future as humanity loses the resources it needs to survive. As global warming and environmental disasters continue to ravage the Earth in the present day, this apocalyptic sci-fi film only seems to grow closer to reality as time goes on. But with its message of hope for humanity in the face of great tragedy, this film balances its heavy subject matter with a sense of optimism that audiences need right now.

Interstellar (2014) - Scene “Messages span: 23 years"

However, one of the film’s strongest aspects is its grounded human narrative. Interstellar isn’t just another blockbuster about an everyman summoned to save humanity from destruction. It’s a poignant tale of parenthood presented on a cosmic, world-changing scale as the protagonist comes to terms with leaving his child to try to do his job, making Interstellar a truly relatable tale.

Interstellar is streaming on Peacock.

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