Scale is a consistent challenge in cinematic science-fiction storytelling. Too big of a scope can leave your story looking like you’re focused more on spectacle, while something more intimate could suggest you didn’t have a budget. Writer/director Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth is a picture that sees its plot and execution land somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.
The narrative is on the thin side, but the intent and main performance telling the tale remains clear eyed. Release Date: November 8, 2024 Directed By: Jérémy Clapin Written By: Jérémy Clapin Starring: Megan Northam, Yoan Germain Le mat, Catherine Salée, and Sam Louwyck Rating: R for some violent content and language. Runtime: 88 minutes Grief propels the emotional thread that runs through Meanwhile On Earth , as we follow protagonist Elsa ( Megan Northam) as she processes her astronaut brother’s (Yoan Germain Le mat) disappearance during a mission.
In the midst of this effort, a strange phenomenon seems to reconnect the two siblings across the vastness of space. That event is what drives the majority of Jérémy Clapin’s film, and it’s what drives the the ingenuity in the storytelling as well as manifests the setbacks to how things unfold. Meanwhile On Earth is very effective in getting its story across through a intimate scale, but it gets thin around the edges.
The finished product is still a promising debut for both it star and director, as their debuts in live-action feature.
