Review: I sobbed my way through Lost in Starlight

Lost in Starlight, which released on Netflix a few days ago, is one of those movies where you hear the premise and think, Oh....this is going to destroy me. And spoiler alert: yeah, it destroyed me. I love going to the movie theater. I usually go at least three times a week. But in this instance, I'm pretty happy that it was a streaming movie, because I was crying loud during this movie. Blubbering, gasping for air, whimpering. Pretty pathetic. This movie earned those tears.

Lovers in stories are often star-crossed, but in this case, they're especially so. Nan-young is an astronaut who wants to be on Demeter IV, the fourth manned mission to Mars. Her mother was part of the second such mission, which ended in disaster due to a Mars-quake that destroyed their base and left no survivors. Despite or because of this, Nan-young is following in her mother's footsteps. Her place on the mission isn't guaranteed -- when we meet her, she's been cut, and she's returned to South Korea to spend time with her dad, maybe relax a little, and (obviously), continue to work to secure her spot.

While on the hunt for someone who can repair her record player, she bumps into charming, tall, handsome Jay, a former musician who's pretty handy. He notices the record player and hands her his card (which is very analogue in the year 2051). In a world that's so digital, virtual, hologram-filled, tech-focused, there's something old-school and charming about him. He's not just down-to-earth. He's down to an Earth that doesn't really exist anymore. Of course, this chance meeting proves to be a meet-cute, and the couple falls head-over-heels (an appropriately gravity-defying turn of phrase), opening up new reservoirs of feeling and ambition in each other. Nan-young inspires Jay to return to music (he says that he's been waiting for the desire to find him again), while Jay teaches Nan-young that life needn't be lived out amongst the stars.

You never know when a miracle will strike.

This is the kind of aching, impossible romance that I always crave, and pretty much always swoon for. I'm an easy lay in that way, but that isn't to say that I'm just giving this movie an easy pass. It builds its world beautifully, and its central relationship even more so. There are scenes that had the tears rolling just because of how gorgeously-conceived and -executed they are, like one hologram-enhanced date where Jay and Nan-young stroll along together, despite him being on a city rooftop while she's in a space station thousands of miles away. It's a pretty optimistic slice of sci-fi, which is refreshing. There's lots of neon, towering shining advertisements, drones delivering packages, but it doesn't feel gross or gritty or heavy. Maybe because it's the setting of such a dynamic love story? Or maybe because these characters are using technology largely for worthwhile purposes -- scientific exploration, making art, and -- most importantly -- staying in touch with the people you love.

Smartly, the movie doesn't rush to its inflection point. Nan-young doesn't head to space until about an hour into the movie, so we have lots of time to get to know her and Jay separately, together, as a couple. We see the ups and a few downs. We see so much of the texture of their lives, the wrinkles that complicate things, the way they fit together better and better day by day. It makes that moment when Nan-young finally gets the news, and then the moment when the rocket finally takes off, hit all the harder. The film does the work to worm its way into your heart. The stakes couldn't be any higher.

This is the first Korean animated movie that Netflix has released, and it's set a high bar. Beyond the great story-telling and first-rate performances (I'm especially taken with Hong Kyung's performance -- he voices Jay), this as fantastic music and gorgeous animation. It takes obviously inspiration from anime, but the characters have a distinct look (I love Jay's nose), and there's great visual flourishes and distinction between Mars and Earth. 

At one point during a Mars scene, with its endless rocky terrain, it had me thinking about how the movie really makes you realize that no where is as beautiful as Earth, because it's where we are. There's nothing so beautiful as another person, one who you connect with and laugh with, who you can pass endless hours with doing nothing, doing everything. It's only because we're here that this place can even be beautiful, if it's true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How lucky are we to be here, to witness so many amazing things, to build so many amazing things, and to get to share it all with the people we love. That's a miracle striking if there ever was one.