Name: Moonshot
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction
Released: 2022-05-05T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Cole Sprouse, Lana Condor, Mason Gooding, Emily Rudd, Christine Adams

The opening shot of Moonshot (2022) lingers on a barista’s trembling hands as he pours coffee, a mundane detail that grounds director Christopher Winterbauer’s sci-fi romcom in the immediate. It’s a clever move: this is a film that wants to be about big ideas—love, destiny, the future of humanity—but insists on finding them in small, human moments.

Set in 2049, Moonshot follows Walt (Cole Sprouse), a barista with a secret girlfriend on Mars, and Sophie (Lana Condor), a college student who’s smitten with someone already en route to the red planet. Their meet-cute is less about chemistry than convenience: they team up to stow away on a shuttle bound for Mars, where they’ll reunite with their respective loves. What follows is a slow-burn road trip through space, complete with zero-gravity pranks, awkward confessions, and a supporting cast that includes Zach Braff as a shady tech mogul (Leon Kovi) and Michelle Buteau as the no-nonsense Captain Tarter.

Winterbauer’s direction is often playful, leaning into the absurdity of its premise—like the scene where Walt and Sophie improvise a distraction using a floating bag of chips. The film’s visual palette is sleek but cold, with sterile whites and blues dominating the shuttle’s interiors, a stark contrast to the warm, lived-in tones of Earth-bound scenes. This choice underscores the central tension: the emotional messiness of human connection versus the clinical precision of space travel.

The performances are where Moonshot shines brightest. Sprouse excels at portraying Walt’s quiet desperation, his voice cracking just enough to sell the character’s vulnerability. Condor, meanwhile, balances Sophie’s intelligence and impulsivity with ease, making her reckless choices feel earned rather than forced. Braff steals scenes as Leon Kovi, a man whose arrogance is matched only by his penchant for dramatic monologues about the future of humanity.

Yet the film falters when it tries to juggle its multiple genres. The romance feels underdeveloped compared to the sci-fi elements, and some of the humor lands with a thud—like Calvin Riggins’s (Mason Gooding) repeated attempts at flirting, which grow tiresome rather than charming. The pacing also stumbles in the third act, where a series of convoluted plot twists threaten to derail the emotional core.

Worse still is the film’s handling of its own themes. Moonshot wants to be a meditation on love and sacrifice, but it never fully commits to exploring either.