Alfonso Cuaron's special effects extravaganza Gravity was one of the best movies of the year not only because it looked amazing but also because it invoked a real sense of dread at being stranded in space. The incredibly long and continuous opening shot is the film's best sequence, and it capitalizes on the charm of George Clooney and his character Matt Kowalski. For a movie that only has three actors in it (not including the voice of Ed Harris in a neat nod to Apollo 13), it's remarkably humanistic. While the second half drags somewhat due to its by-the-numbers plotting, the harrowing shot of Lieutenant Kowalski floating away without a hope in space is one of the year's best scenes, and certainly one of the most tragic. But while the second half doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first, it would have been entirely unsuccessful without the very real possibility that Sandra Bullock's Dr. Ryan Stone could die. Kowalski's tragic death untethers Stone both literally and metaphorically from any other human being. Watching her struggle to survive only means something if we recognize death as something that is seemingly inescapable. Kowalski reappears in an act of near-divine intervention, but just as a mirage. Death is real, but Gravity is a movie about finding the will to stay alive. For every kid who grew up wanting to be an astronaut, this movie was scary enough to make that dream a nightmare. And that is in no small part due to one of the hardest death scenes to watch in 2013.
Bryan Hickman is a WhatCulture contributor residing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bryan's passions include film, television, basketball, and writing about himself in the third person.
