Meanwhile On Earth Review: Fresh Sci-Fi Drama Drifts A Little Bit With Its Story But Not Its Intent

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.

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 features also help bridge some of the gaps.

Meanwhile On Earth is a beautiful lo-fi sci-fi journey, for better and worse.

The film opting to work on the more character focused side of the scale, there’s still unique visual flair to show off in Meanwhile On Earth. Peppered with animated sequences that show Elsa’s daydreams of flying through space with her brother, our director’s experience in animation is used as a means of illustrating glimpses into our lead character’s headspace.

A touch like that helps anchor the overall concept of the movie, which is simple but profound. The relatively short 88 minute length of Jérémy Clapin’s first live-action picture gives Elsa a quest to fulfill that may or may not reunite her with her departed brother. That task comes with some strings, though, as Meanwhile On Earth takes the commonly spouted consolation of “nothing can bring them back” and asks a pretty big question: how far would you go if you could?

One's mileage will definitely vary with Meanwhile On Earth thanks to its lo-fi approach to both storytelling and spectacle. While the impetus I’ve just described is approached artfully, the overall story doesn't expand or develop in ways you want it to. Ambiguity rules through most of the events that play out, with a ticking clock only being introduced in the third act to build greater tension. The relative lack of stakes for the majority of the runtime sees the first two acts floating in a more freeform style that lacks structure. Uncertainty doesn’t ruin Meanwhile On Earth in the long view, but it does develop more questions than answers.

For their feature film debuts, Megan Northam and Jérémy Clapin make an impressive mark through Meanwhile On Earth.

Meanwhile On Earth does give the audience an identifiable journey of emotional stakes to consider, while also avoiding the trap of becoming too melodramatic. Elsa’s journey is identifiable and moving, which is brought further into focus through Megan Northam’s tremendous portrayal. Sorrow is an identifiable component that is felt at all times, but that particular note isn’t merely hammered throughout.

Much as Northam has shown herself to be a fresh talent in the acting department, Jérémy Clapin’s debut as a live-action director is equally notable. Perhaps best known for his Academy Award nominated animated film I Lost My Body, Clapin’s eye for animation is valuable when it comes to the visual component of Meanwhile On Earth. Hand in hand with the shortcomings, there's an impressive economy of the story told in this movie, as the lush visuals and engrossing story fly by at an impressive clip.

The brisk pacing does contribute to the fact that we’re not given too much time to delve into the deeper moments of Meanwhile On Earth. The moral reckoning and drive that should have been present throughout the narrative only starts to present itself in the final act of the film, and even then it isn’t given enough to build or resolve in a way that totally satisfies. That being said, the combined novelty of Megan Northam and Jérémy Clapin’s burgeoning talents boost the story that exists, turning a collection of concepts from various sources into something freshly cathartic.

Meanwhile On Earth is a good start for some potentially promising voices in the sci-fi genre.

Meanwhile On Earth is a solid sci-fi story that gives us another angle on loss and what we do in its wake. In a cinematic genre that has explored the human condition effectively for decades, it’s beautiful to see filmmakers still finding nuanced ways to continue exploring the fantastic and the unexplainable. Judged solely on that criteria, the resulting movie is a resounding success – but the flaws in the story’s resolution are too great to ignore.

That’s not to say that this isn’t a film worth your time though. Visually gorgeous and conceptually unique, the French thriller can effectively enrapture you. That is, so long as you’re threshold of unexplained phenomenon is set high enough that you won’t go looking for answers beyond what’s presented on screen.

Perhaps the best thing to come from this exercise is the teaming of Jérémy Clapin and Megan Northam. Their combined talents form a director/star dynamic that makes up the best of what Meanwhile On Earth has to offer, and the picture that results through their collaboration is a mesmerizing narrative, even at its most nebulous.