Just what is it about indie science fiction that is so fascinating? Maybe it’s the idea that great effects are done on a small budget. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that it’s indie filmmaking. Regardless of pretense or the filmmaker’s confinements, indie movies of the “lesser” genres (action, horror, sci-fi, etc.) almost always impress, Another Earth being no exception to this general rule.

Another Earth marks a marvelous turn that most sci-fi movie writers are too scared to take, and that is into the realm of a character drama. Mike Cahill’s thought-provoking debut as director (and writer and cinematographer and editor) is a risky venture, but it almost always works. Unfortunately, Cahill has concocted a premise that is too interesting for his small, pensive movie, but the beautiful Brit Marling makes it possible to ignore most of the film’s most glaring issues as she sweeps the audience away with her acting.

It’s best to go into Another Earth without any outside knowledge, but if you’ve come to this page, you probably know too much already. Here is your chance to leave before I begin with story details…

Still with me? Good. Another Earth is centered around Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), an MIT student who becomes frenzied after she finds out that scientists have discovered a planet nicknamed Earth 2. Earth 2 is the same in composition as our earth, however the problem is that Earth 2 has suddenly moved from behind the sun and into view in our night sky. Rhoda drunkenly leaves a party and drives away, only to accidentally hit another family’s car while she is stargazing. The mother and child are killed; the father (William Mapother), on the other hand, is left in a coma. Four years later, Rhoda is released from jail and the father awakens from his coma. It’s up to Rhoda to find the courage to apologize and right what she has done wrong.

Visually, Another Earth is an impressive film. There’s a constant reminder that the film is independent–Cahill is forced to rely on grainy hand-held shots for some of the film’s most beautiful moments–and yet it’s very well-done for a film that supposedly cost $150,000 to make. Cahill returns to his roots in filming sharks and jellyfish for National Geographic by giving the human form a feeling of mystique. There are quite a few shots of Rhoda walking in slow-motion, Earth 2 looming in the background. But it’s all worth it: the viewer is constantly introduced to the world’s cruelty and ugliness, but Cahill has somehow made it serene and strangely inviting.

Whether or not Another Earth could have possibly held together without great actors is something that should be called into question. Brit Marling gives the performance that every actress wants to give. She adds a seemingly impossible amount of depth to the character of Rhoda. We feel her pain constantly, and it’s all thanks to Marling. Marling is worthy of a Best Actress nomination for her work in Another Earth. Although William Mapother is not to be ignored either. Maybe you’ve seen him on “Lost” when he played Ethan, however here, he doesn’t play a baddie. He’s honest and human in his slice-of-life performance.

Another Earth isn’t perfect, in fact, it’s far from it. The interesting ideas of two earths, a whole new you, and fear of doppelgangers is underused, if not absent entirely. The ending is, without a doubt, science fiction at its best, however it’s really the only scene in the movie that is pure sci-fi. The ending could be a “twist,” but I’m not going to call it that because the ending is just as subtle as the rest of the movie. Nevertheless, it packs a punch. Cahill should feature the same premise in his next film, but this time, he should entertain all the special effects that everyone wanted to see in this one.

At the Sundance Film Festival this year, Another Earth won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, an award given to the film that best portrays a sci-fi story. There may not have been many movies at Sundance that could have qualified, but there’s no question that Another Earth deserved. Cahill’s first movie is quiet, well-made, and has the makings of an indie classic. Brit Marling and William Mapother’s chemistry perfectly fits Cahill’s excellent script, causing the audience to ponder “What if…?” for the entire movie. It’s mystifying science fiction, the kind without explosions and the kind without little green men. And Cahill proves that this, this lo-fi, destructive, and emotionally tense meditation, may be the best kind of science fiction.