First Impressions: 6 Films With Great Premises That Didn’t Deliver

2) Another Earth

The Premise: Another Earth appears in the sky, resulting in an obsession by the general public in determining what it actually is. It is revealed to be a mirrored and identical version of our earth, complete with an identical copy of ourselves.

The Failure: No real failure here, but much like The Prestige, it had a severe case of multiple personality disorder. While The Prestige was a drama film that turned into a sci-fi film, Another Earth was a sci-fi film that turned into a romance film. As we all know, genres always blend together in every single film, but when something is marketed so heavily as an exploration of this other Earth, it becomes quite disappointing when this other Earth is trivialized into a plot device that only serves to save the two protagonists from an unhappy ending.

Granted, the relationship between Rhoda and John was crafted perfectly with both characters undergoing extreme obstacles to find themselves in that happy ending, but when the title of the film signifies that this sci-fi element will be the focal point, I expect it to be the focal point.

The Fix: I think the film would be just as effective if the entirety of it was cut to even just two-thirds the length, then the last third would be an actual audience interaction with this other Earth. Leaving something implied or open-ended is fine, but in this case, it feels lazy. Let us see this Earth, let us explore it, even if just for a bit. Isn’t that what sci-fi is all about?