The Landing is a 2018 film investigating the tragic end of Apollo 18, the last US mission to the Moon in 1973, conducting interviews in 1998, on the 25th anniversary of the incident.
The US space program has been at the center of a number of wildly controversial moments from its inception at the start of the space race up to today where conspiratorial websites post images from landers on Mars claiming they show proof of alien life and a coverup by the government. Our equally wildly up and down love affair with these space adventures has left the cinematic landscape awash in all kinds of tales among the stars in retelling some of these stories (the latest First Man soon to release) and plenty of well-made documentaries as companion. Now comes David Dodson and Mark Dodson‘s latest The Landing, a ‘documentary’ about NASA’s final mission to the Moon, a film that takes both its subject and its approach very seriously … at first glance.
Even if you aren’t entirely familiar with the details of the race to the Moon in the 1960s or the subsequent landings on it in the early 70s, most are at least aware that such a thing occurred. Sure, few people today can probably even say the names or even how many men walked on the lunar surface, but getting there nonetheless remains one of our species’ greatest achievements. Apollo 18 was a very real mission in the NASA program, though one of several cancelled ones in the wake of the Apollo 13 incident and looming budget cuts. However, it has somehow become one of lore, the subject of a poorly-received 2011 horror film and now this, a look back at what is meant to appear like the truth.
Naturally, even a cursory glance at the history of NASA will tell you that Apollo 18 was simply a slated mission that never got off the ground, so watching The Landing with a grain of salt is part and parcel to giving it a look. Reimagining the past is half the fun in enjoying movies like this, and the Dodson’s do their film justice by never once hinting at falsehood or parody. They keep this as authentic and rigidly accurate to the times as seems possible, propping up talking heads in front of the camera alongside ‘re-enactments’ and ‘archival footage’ to tell the doomed story of the mission. It’s pretty impressive even if keen observes will note a decidedly purposeful shot at our ever decreasing capacity for fact-checking. This is a film that will thrive in a time where fake news is bantered about in conversations but rarely given effort to root out.
The film hinges on a conspiracy about the actions of astronaut Bo Cunningham (Don Hannah), pitting two sides of the story against each other, part of it focused on a coverup and the rest on interviews of those involved in the investigation, one that grows increasingly complex the further it travels, and this is where the filmmakers are clearly having the most fun, layering in a steady stream of very plausible evidentiary moments from toxic thorns and blood drops to moonrocks, press coverage, and the triangular affections of a woman. There’s even a political edge that is the film’s only ‘misstep’ in keeping the cast unrecognizable as Robert Pine shows up as a US congressman.
The Landing is a clever and intricately-spun tale of misdirection that might not serve as thoroughly complete as the faux-documentary it aims to be but does better as a genuine thriller. It’s absolutely packed with all kinds of loopy left turns and ‘aged’ documents, images, and footage to boost up the whacky conspiracy it plots out, all with alarmingly good effect. Tossing in some era-specific pop songs and a Forrest Gump mix of CGI-altered history, The Landing is a good time, whether you see the man behind the curtain from the start or you fall for it hook, line, and sinker right to the end credits. Highly-recommended.
The Landing releases on October 2.