Claire Denis's 2018 sci-fi film High Life, starring Robert Pattinson, offers a more scientifically grounded portrayal of black holes than Christopher Nolan's acclaimed Interstellar, despite both films exploring the cosmic phenomenon.
While early depictions of black holes in film, like 1979's The Black Hole, prioritized spectacle over accuracy, Nolan's Interstellar (2014) made significant strides by integrating the black hole Gargantua with a high degree of scientific plausibility. However, High Life, which began streaming on Tubi on July 1, achieves an even more impressive feat by grounding its narrative in a real scientific theory.
The film follows a group of death-row convicts sent on a perilous mission to extract energy from a black hole, a concept derived from the Penrose process. This real-world theory suggests that energy can be harvested from a rotating black hole's ergosphere, a region outside the event horizon, by splitting an object entering it in a specific way. High Life utilizes this concept to emphasize the dire circumstances on Earth and the convicts' expendable status, treating the black hole as a one-way destination.
Director Claire Denis employs a disorienting, non-linear narrative to focus on Monte (Pattinson) and his solitary existence aboard the spacecraft with his daughter. The film delves into themes of mortality and redemption through the intimate lens of their daily lives, forcing the audience to piece together the timeline. Unlike Interstellar, which presents Gargantua as a gateway to vast possibilities and uses it to drive a narrative about saving humanity through familial love, High Life leverages the black hole to amplify the characters' profound isolation and existential dread.
Denis's visual representation of the black hole, described as resembling "a crocodile's eye," aligns remarkably with the first actual image of a black hole captured in 2019. This visual accuracy, credited to special effects artist Olafur Eliasson, enhances the film's grounded feel. Where Interstellar invites awe and wonder, High Life uses the same cosmic entity to underscore the emotional void experienced by its characters.
Despite the bleakness, the black hole in High Life also offers a sliver of hope—a potential escape from the confines of the prison-like vessel. This nuanced perspective, focusing on the characters' fates rather than grand spectacle, makes High Life a compelling, albeit overlooked, entry in the space sci-fi genre. The film's heady and bittersweet exploration of humanity on the brink deserves greater recognition.
