Akash Sherman, young Canadian film maker, presents an “out of this world” feature that makes audiences question the powers beyond our planet and those of love.
In the film Clara, a story is unfolded about an astronomy professor, Isaac Bruno (played by Patrick J. Adams), and his obsession with searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life. The film opens with a classroom scene and a student questioning Isaac about why he keeps searching the cosmos if nothing has been proven. The student suggests Isaac should spend his time doing more feasible acts such as “reproduction” or “falling in love.” From this, Isaac blasts back statistics on marriage and divorce and explains how one shouldn’t waste time as there is definitely evidence in the cosmos. He believes love only causes hurt in one’s life. This scene gives the audience a good idea that he has been hurt in the past by love and is subordinating his pains to his research.
When Isaac feels that he is close to a major celestial discovery, he is advised by a colleague to slow down and focus on himself in the present world first rather than that of others. However, Isaac ignores this advice and his obsessions raises skepticism among his university department, and he is denied further funding and access to university facilities. Determined to continue his search, Isaac advertises for an unpaid research assistant.
A young artist named Clara (played my Troian Bellisario) is interested in the position and though she doesn’t have experience working with scientific data, she shares Isaac’s passion and fascination with space. Their unlikely collaboration launches them to discover what is outside of planet Earth and brings them to the edge of a monumental breakthrough. Simultaneously, Clara seeks to unearth Isaac’s past and what has made him the way he is. After working in such close proximity for a few weeks, Isaac’s past remark of “outer space is a safer bet than love” is questioned as the arrival of Clara in his life may have changed his mind.
This film truly makes the audience question what is outside of our current planet and almost sparks ambition to search for what is out there. At the same time, it also juxtaposes a lesson that though there may be fascination with outside worlds, we must not forget the one we are on now.
Cover photo courtesy of: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6613878/mediaviewer/rm298482176