Apollo 10 1/2 (2022)

Directed by Richard Linklater

Apollo 10 ½ is the story of Stan (Milo Coy), a normal boy living in a brand new Houston suburb in 1960s America. With his proximity to NASA, future is in the air, as Stan navigates a happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings, astronauts and the dream of space exploration.

In a perpetual stream of consciousness, adult Stan (Jack Black) narrates his life and experiences of the space age. In seemingly never ending detail, he goes into every minutia of his life. From his fights with his siblings, to the beatings at school, his household chores, his thoughts on his family’s financial situation and most and foremost his fascination with space. Through Stan’s eyes we get a glimpse into a time of inevitable change. The Vietnam War was raging, the feminist movement was on the rise and America was at the verge of winning the space race and sending the first man to the moon.

Richard Linklater likes to play with the notion of time and boyhood and this movie is no exception. The feeling that the past doesn’t matter pervades the entire movie and gives it an uplifting almost manic feel, as we see the protagonists vibrate with possibilities. Ten years, until the first colony on Mars is established, freedom for all, free love. Anything seems possible. Stan becomes a vessel for the hopes and dreams of an entire generation, experiencing all its milestones, culminating in the moon landing of 1969 and Neil Armstrong’s legendary words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 

The animation gives the movie a languid fluidity that couldn’t have been achieved in live action and the soundtrack makes the narration come alive with the feel of a typical 60-ies childhood. 

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is a time capsule of a movie, perfectly preserving the atmosphere of a time period, where everything was possible and the future was bright. But it’s also a movie about memory and its inner workings and how everything seems just a little brighter and more palatable, if enough time has passed.