6. Another Earth (2011)
A science fiction film that uses the genre as nothing more than outline to study the damage that can befall a series of lives in a single instant, and how those lives try to recover afterwards. As the title suggests, the film opens with the discovery of a duplicate planet floating just near our own, a second planet Earth, full of the same people and places. A mirror image of our own world. The questions that this discovery raises are obvious; how individual can we be if there is another version of us living on a planet near by? How similar are we? Have they made the same choices? The same mistakes? This is a film that forces us to consider questions that Krzysztof Kieslowski wouldve smiled at, questions of our own humanity and individuality. Throughout the film we follow Rhoda (Brit Marling), a young woman hoping for some kind of personal redemption after a horrible mistake, and the planet that looms over her (often in stunning images) serves as a reminder of that possibility of a second chance. Marling, not only the star of the film but also its cowriter, establishes herself as one of the most original and important voices in modern science fiction. This, her debut feature, holds us in its grip throughout its running time, but the questions that it asks us stay with us long after it is over. It's a remarkably mature and affecting picture.