The entire film can be taken on an metaphorical or allegorical level, and although the strength of the film, again, is in its effectiveness in drawing us into the visual experience of its story, the characters it presents, most notably the Bullock character Ryan, allow the movie to operate on another level. Her status as a scientist who is new to working on a space station and suddenly having to deal with more intense situations than most astronauts would ever have to face is definitely compelling.
Most compelling though is her personal, social backstory involving the loss of her daughter. It’s the psychological struggle she undertakes that frankly overshadows the physical challenges of her story. It uses space and debris as elements of a very human story, the idea that finding the will to overcome your challenges, the will to live at all, is often far more difficult than finding the right path to follow, and the right steps to take. The success in finding a source of hope to cling to is more of a triumph than wherever that hope happens to lead.
This movie is part 127 Hours, part Avatar, part 2001: A Space Odyssey, and many parts something new entirely. It’s an emotional experience that, for many, will translate into a mentally, even physically gruelling time at the movies. It’s a presentation of space we’ve never seen before. The way it’s able to sew all these elements together is remarkable, and impossible to completely capture in an advertising campaign or through previewing one scene out of context. As a whole, it has to be considered one of the most exciting and revolutionary films in years.
Gravity will likely be subjected to boring intellectual analyses that try to downplay its aesthetic value. But the main reason it works is that it’s an experience of pure cinema and it’s unlikely that anyone can really prepare themselves for it or anticipate it. Excessive hype can often lead people down a path towards inevitable disappointment, but when a movie gives viewers the type of experience Gravity does, your ordinary world of cinematic anticipation quickly fades away as you get lost in space.