Solaris is a sci-fi thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is an intense psychological thriller that delves into the mysteries of the human mind and the power of love, memories, and hope. It is a haunting film that blends reality, fantasy, and madness.
The story centers around Chris who is a psychologist. He receives a frantic message from a close friend named Gibrarian. Gibrarian is part of an investigative team aboard a space station that is circling a planet called Solaris. He tells Chris that he needs help because very strange things have been taking place on the station. He cannot elaborate as to what is going on and he insists that Chris must come aboard the station to see for himself. A concerned Chris travels to the station and is shocked to find that Gibrarian, along with other members of the investigative team are dead. He only finds two people alive, Snow and Dr. Gordon but neither of them can offer much information when they are asked to explain what is happening. Snow seems to be mentally disjointed and detached from his surroundings. Dr. Gordon has a more serious demeanor but she insists that she cannot explain what is happening, Chris must experience it for himself.
That night while Chris is asleep, he is suddenly awakened by his wife Rheya beside him in bed. Chris is shocked and horrified because Rheya has died, this cannot really be her. But she is not a dream or an apparition, she is very real and she insists that she is Rheya. Chris has experienced the strange phenomenon that has been going on aboard the space station - each member of the team receives a visitor, someone that they have known. Someone that cannot be real and yet is real. Some of the members of the team could not handle the presence of their particular visitor and went mad and committed suicide, Gibrarian among them. Who are these visitors? Why are they here? Those are the questions that Chris has been called to the station to answer but cannot as he finds himself becoming more and more absorbed in the strange phenomenon.
The film brings the viewers back to the time that Chris met Rheya and we see the development of their relationship as well as her death, which was a suicide. Now that he is aboard the station, Chris' visitor Rheya is so real that he sees this as an opportunity to have more time with her. He had felt terribly guilty about her suicide and now he sees this as a chance to start over again with her. Dr. Gordon, however, does not have such a positive response to the visitors and she insists that they are not human and need to be destroyed. As she sees Chris becoming more and more attached to Rheya, she argues with him that he is being emotionally manipulated. Dr. Gordon and Snow have come up with a way to physically destroy the visitors but Chris cannot bring himself to have Rheya destroyed.
Solaris is a very fascinating, touching, and thought provoking film. George Clooney gives a fantastic performance as the brooding Chris, as does Natasha McElhone as the emotionally fragile Rheya. Viola Davis is great in her portrayal of the serious and tough Dr. Gordon and Jeremy Davies gives a wonderfully engaging performance as the weirdly gentle Snow. I also want to say that this is not action oriented sci-fi film, it is more of a brooding psychological drama and a very good one at that. Tags: jeremy davies, sci-fi, solaris, steven soderbergh
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