‘Space Oddity’ Review: A Trip to Mars and a Sweet Romance Anchor This All-Too-Sweet Drama

variety.com:

Manuel Betancourt The prospect of leaving Earth for good does not scare Alex (Kyle Allen). Instead, it inspires him. It’s not that he doesn’t cherish his mother, his father and his sister.

They’re as close as a family can be. Nor that he is at all hopeless about the state of the world. Though he’ll admit it’s hard to plan a future on a planet that seems to have none.

In his mind, Alex’s decision to embark on a possible (one way!) mission to Mars is a chance to start anew, to dream anew.The conceit is a neat one, and as Kyra Sedgwick’s feature film directorial debut unfolds, it actually feels quite generative.

Who among us wouldn’t also wish to leave everything behind and go on our interplanetary adventure? But that is all this is, a conceit.