I am a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who can tell a hawk from a handsaw, and there is a wonderful handsaw in this movie. So, I feel qualified to tell you it is safe to see this movie as it is, without worrying about details like gravity. Do not allow unimaginative naysayers to keep you from enjoying this gem. I mean, we all can enjoy vampire and zombie movies, right? Is any movie any better than "Let the Right One In"? I saw this movie last night in Brookline Mass at a Q&A preview, with director, writers, and an actor -- all combined in two lovely people. No one in our sophisticated audience that included a CETI scientist cared enough about the "laws of physics" problems to mention them in the question period. All we cared about were the endearing characters, the music both acoustic and visual, the plot developments, the shocking climaxes, the compelling emotional plausibility.

The movie is not about anything as terrestrial as gravity. In the world of this movie, something has happened to upset some kind of cosmic symmetry, and the other earth has appeared from a parallel universe. I do wish some character or other had dispelled the physics with "I don't know why our orbits are not affected". But, the metaphor works as a way to discuss looking at oneself. It really does not matter. The acting is perfect, the camera-work perfectly beautiful, the plot deeply affecting with wonderful surprises.

It seems that grief films aren´t very popular. I think one shouldn´t set aside one film just because of its subject matter. I find "The Son´s Room" and "In the Bedroom" to be excellent grief films, if you´re interested.

"Another Earth" has been accused of not being able to incorporate the big idea into the narrative. Well, this isn´t "Arrival", it´s far from having the necessary means. As a charming very low-budget film, the idea of a mirror earth is just there to support the main concept: what if you could meet yourself? It makes sense to center the plot around guilt and self-reproach. The existence of a mirror earth is in fact just a background but adding the tangible possibility of meeting yourself sustains the plot. Without it, this would be just an average drama. Instead it sets interesting questions around that possibility. How do our decisions and mistakes shape us? Do we like what we see in the mirror? Would we want to meet ourselves? Are we full of ourselves? Can we forgive ourselves?It also gives an inner voice to the main character. When she doesn´t speak much we learn about her through those bits. It´s a twist, but an insightful one. It´s always better to have a good twist than none at all. The whole movie unwinds around that idea effectively. The scene with the old janitor is specially touching.

The problem is, in my opinion, there´s something terribly off in the scenes with the two main characters. It´s not too bad since they´re supposed to be tense, but there´s an important lack of chemistry. Maybe I just don´t like William Mapother. He´s in my acting blacklist since I saw "In the Bedroom", seriously, I don´t like to pick on someone else´s job but yeah, he´s awful and nearly destroys the film. On the other hand, Brit Marling saves it all, including the extremely shy direction from Mike Cahill.