Interstellar is an amazingly captivating film. Conceptually sprawling, fearlessly wonky in its ideas and its dialog, and grounded by a superb performance by Matthew McConaughey (he is way better than he looked in the trailer, I should point out), this is a film that has the guts to tell an epic story in truly epic fashion. It is long – pushing three hours – but the pacing is quite good, with very few lulls, and the story covers so much ground you feel like you’ve actually lived the heroic lives of all the individuals in the film. As a work of science fiction art I feel Interstellar falls somewhat short of recent masterpieces like Sunshine and Europa Report, but at the same time Interstellar clearly borrowed key narrative concepts from these two films and took them in fresh, interesting new directions – I’m always impressed when filmmakers show an understanding of great cinema through what they choose to imitate. Whatever small shortcomings Interstellar might suffer from, it is a fantastic, wonderful film, certainly the best and most entertaining thing I saw in 2014.

One of the reasons I took so long to see Interstellar was the film’s weird and confusing trailer. Having seen the film, I now see that the trailer was precisely crafted to hide the many surprises and plot twists which this story features. I’m not about to give away anything in this review; Interstellar is one of those films which deserves a cold viewing. You’ll be astonished, trust me.

But I will make a few general remarks. When it comes to physics, Interstellar really lets it all hang out. This is not a film where a few technical things are mumbled in the beginning and then it’s off the the races. It’s almost like the film aspires to put forth a mathematically coherent view of the universe, incorporating as many of the theoretical predictions of modern astrophysics as possible, and at the same time exploring Einstein’s special and general relativity in as much detail as the narrative will stand. If you like this kind of thing, it’s super fun!

Also, Mackenzie Foy was outstanding in the supporting role of McConaughey’s daughter. She was so good, so effective, she single-handedly smoothed over the occasionally slow pacing in the first part of the movie, and her performance grounds the key emotional relationship between father and daughter for the entire film. I should also point out that her character is an incredibly positive role model for young girls – something you rarely see in films these days.

Lastly, there is a pleasing sociopolitical subtext to the entire film, in which science attempts to save a general population which has retreated into reactionary paranoia, retrogressive hostility toward science, and whacked-out opinions and policies – all very reminiscent of the Tea Party, I might add – in the face of impending doom via environmental collapse. In our current world, where humanity seems to care less and less about science, knowledge, exploration of space, and its own future, and instead cares more and more about wars, xenophobia, religious intolerance, chemical addition, and escapist activities, this kind of challenging, intelligent defense of science and rational thought, together with a parallel defense of the oneness of our species, is extremely welcome.

If you can still see Interstellar on the big screen, don’t miss it. Otherwise, be sure to Netflix it as soon as it comes out. It’s awesome!