Brad Pitt’s 124-Minute “Interstellar Meets The Martian” Sci-Fi Epic Scores New Streaming Home

It isn’t often that Brad Pitt delves into the realm of sci-fi, but when he has, the results have been interesting, to say the least. 12 Monkeys is perhaps the one he’s most known for, which came three years after the wild experiment that was Cool World. Now, one of his most critically acclaimed sci-fi films is making its return to streaming next month, which will give viewers a chance to see if they can spot what critics fell in love with.

Space Travel and Family Drama Collide in Brad Pitt’s Sci-Fi Epic

Brad Pitt in Ad Astra
20th Century Fox
Brad Pitt in Ad Astra
20th Century Fox
Brad Pitt in Ad Astra
20th Century Fox

Directed by James Gray and hitting theaters on Sept. 20, 2019, Ad Astra stars Pitt as Roy McBride, a calm and calculated astronaut whose father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), disappeared 30 years earlier while leading a mission toward Neptune. While he was long thought dead, events tied to his last voyage now threaten Earth, leading many to question what really happened to Roy’s father.

Sent on a classified mission that takes him toward the outer reaches of the solar system, Roy uncovers unsettling information about his father’s mission and the obsession that drove him farther from home. As he gets closer to the truth, his goal becomes less about saving humanity, and more about dealing with the complicated relationship he has with his dad.

Mixing all the deep space and familial drama of Interstellar with the realistic depictions of space travel seen in The Martian, Ad Astra isn’t one of those movies with quick action that moves you from one sequence to the next. It’s a slow-burn sci-fi drama about loneliness, fatherhood, and obsession that’s more existential than adventurous. As such, the film wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, as is evident by its divisive scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Landing a Certified Fresh rating of 83% from critics, they called Ad Astra everything from “remarkable” to “first-person cinema at its finest.” Audiences didn’t agree, as they gave the film a score of just 40% on the Popcornmeter, deeming it “boring,” “horrible,” and “a waste of time and talent.” Ouch! Your mileage may vary, of course, so if you’ve never seen Ad Astra, now is as good a time as any on its new streaming home.

‘Ad Astra’ Lands on Netflix Next Month

Currently, Ad Astra is unavailable to stream on any major platform in the United States, but all that will change next month. Pitt’s existential sci-fi epic is set to touch down on Netflix on Oct. 1, opening it up to a whole new crop of viewers who will no doubt be interested in seeing what all the fuss is about.

Always one to stay busy, Pitt has a number of projects on the go right now, with at least two of them still to premiere this year. First up is the survival thriller directed by David Ayer, Heart of the Beast, which is slated for a theatrical release on Sept. 25. Following that, Pitt will return to Netflix for the sequel/spinoff to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood aptly titled The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which reunites him with both David Fincher and Quentin Tarantino. Look for that one to drop on Dec. 23 following a limited engagement in IMAX.