Moon (2009)

The most trustworthy coworker on Moon’s mining base is a robot that talks through little smiley faces on a screen, which tells you how this job is going. Sam Bell is alone up there, two weeks from heading home, and Duncan Jones keeps everything small: one base, one man, a rover and a lot of silence. The mystery isn’t hard to guess, and the movie shows its hand early. The company bosses back on Earth are cardboard, too. But Sam Rockwell is incredible here. He’s funny, frayed and lonely, carrying nearly every scene by himself, and he makes a guy losing his grip feel like your neighbor. The miniature models on the lunar surface look better than plenty of digital effects from that year. It cost a reported $5M and made $9.8 million worldwide, so most people missed it. An 8.6 because it’s 97 minutes of smart sci-fi with zero wasted space. $25.94 says the next cheerful automated voice that asks how your day is going gets a very careful answer.

What works: Sam Rockwell carries the movie almost alone and makes it funny, sad and tense, and the practical model work still looks great.

What doesn’t: The central mystery is easy to guess, and the corporate villains on Earth never become more than a voice on a screen.

Who it’s for: Sci-fi fans who’d rather have one great idea and one great actor than a hundred explosions.