A lone scientist (director George Clooney) isolated in the Arctic three weeks after an undefined global apocalyptic event struggles to reach the crew of a spacecraft returning from a habitable moon of Jupiter to tell them there’s nothing left for them to come back to. 

While the film admirably remains focused on the human element, Clooney’s latest directorial effort nonetheless feels obliged to include all the usual space-opera best hits: devastating isolation, brave sacrifices, tragic mysterious deaths, the sudden destructive meteor shower. There’s little new here.

It’s well acted (Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Tiffany Boone), beautifully filmed and highly atmospheric. But there’s little suspense, no villain (except perhaps mankind), the pacing’s erratic, and it’s really, really depressing. And the denouement’s a cop-out. On Netflix. (118 min)