Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

As (a very good) Sam Rockwell nears the end of his three-year hitch as the lone human operator at an automated lunar mining base, strange things begin to happen. He seems to be hallucinating, and his health is inexplicably deteriorating. His only companion is an obsequious robot (an open and unambiguous nod to 2001’s HAL, voiced by Kevin Spacey). Then Sam is injured, wakes up in the station’s automated infirmary, and starts to learn stuff. Like why anyone would sign up for such a job. I’ll tell you nothing more, but catch this intelligent, idea-based example of classic hard science fiction. Japanese title: Tsuki ni Torawareta Otoko. (97 min)