The Martian is a sci-fi film that was adapted from the book written by Andy Weir. The film, starring Matt Damon as the titular character, takes place in 2035 where the Ares III crew is on a space mission on Mars.

After a dust storm gave the crew no choice but to abort their mission, they all evacuated to Hermes, their space vessel. Unfortunately, astronaut Mark Watney, Damon’s character, was nowhere to be found. It was presumed he was dead, so they launched back into space for their voyage back to Earth. Mark was discovered to actually be alive as he miraculously survived the storm. The only problem was that an antenna penetrated through his space suit and pierced a hole in his abdomen.

The rest of the movie deals with Mark’s struggles to survive on Mars and NASA’s debates about what they can do now that they know he’s alive — is there any way to rescue him or will he have to die alone on Mars?

Special effects were amazingly realistic in this movie and it felt as if Watney was truly on Mars. Mark traveled on a rover to another location on the planet and in this part, the cinematography of the film was done outstandingly. At the beginning of the movie, the dust storm had winds blowing at over 100 mph and dust blowing everywhere. It appeared to be as dangerous, maybe even more, as a real tornado, which isn’t something easily recreated by special effect equipment. The footage wasn’t at all shaky, even in the scenes where Mark was launched off of Mars to reunite with his crew.

The best parts were all the conflicts Mark overcame. Not only did he have to physically survive on Mars, but he also had to keep himself from going insane. Not everyone could be isolated on a planet for as long as he was and come out sane. Through his experience, he kept a video diary of his time on Mars, and it helped viewers get to know him and how he was doing mentally throughout the journey.

The Martian kept the audience guessing all the way through as to what would ultimately be Mark’s fate. It is a must see film that anyone from teens to adults would enjoy!