A roguish tragicomedy about Americans on the Moon from Apple TV+ has appeared online — 'Fly Me to the Moon'. What is the film like? Read our review.

1968. The height of the space race between the USA and the USSR. A slick bureaucrat from the Nixon administration, nicknamed Mo (Woody Harrelson), hires an adventurous PR woman, Kelly (Scarlett Johansson), to promote the Apollo 11 program. She heads to Florida, to the Kennedy Space Center, where she meets Cole Davis (Channing Tatum). Working together, though not from the start, Kelly and Cole begin to develop feelings for each other. However, Kelly must keep secret from Cole that Mo has tasked her with filming an alternative version of the moon landing.

'Fly Me to the Moon' is far from the first work to flirt with the popular conspiracy theory. And not even the first in the comedy genre. For instance, in 2015, "The Moon Conspiracy" was released starring Ron Perlman and Rupert Grint. But while that film was a rollicking and bloody farce, director Greg Berlanti has crafted a heartfelt rom-com with elements of biting political satire in the vein of "Don't Look Up" and a thriller about con artists reminiscent of the "Now You See Me" duology. And the film manages to balance brilliantly on the edge of genres without fully tipping into any one of them.

Simply put, if you expect the film to deliver caustic pamphlets against the media, politicians, and advertisers ready to make money off anything, you will find a whole heap of barbs, symbolic episodes, and allusions. At some point, you might even catch yourself thinking you're watching a new satirical opus by Adam McKay. Moreover, 'Fly Me to the Moon,' albeit tangentially, also addresses the issue of simulacra in the information space and the phenomenon of post-truth (where 'how it's shown' outweighs 'what is shown'). Particularly eloquent in this context is the scene where the characters cannot tell whether the footage being broadcast live is from the Moon or from its fake studio replica.

And even without the caustic mockery, it's a hilariously funny and extremely inventive spectacle in this regard, also abundant in subtle dialogue humor and equally successful visual gags. The climactic scene with the fake landing is an absolute masterpiece!

'Fly Me to the Moon' also works excellently as a comedy about adventurers. Every trick Johansson's character pulls to fool one official or another evokes genuine admiration. When dealing with an intransigent politician who believes intercontinental missiles are more important than space, she resorts to drawings of a potential Soviet base with a huge Death Star laser aimed at the States. When she needs to win the trust of a senator's wife from Louisiana, Kelly instantly adopts a characteristic accent and a couple of sharp phrases about the state's uniqueness. Johansson is incredibly good in the role of a female version of Frank Abagnale!

But perhaps the film reveals its most sincere and intimate side when it focuses on the love story of the characters. While Kelly's drama lies in having learned to lie masterfully since childhood and being unable to stop, Cole's drama is a guilt complex over the failure of the first Apollo mission and his unfulfilled dream of becoming a NASA astronaut due to diagnosed arrhythmia. And when one of these seemingly strong and unyielding characters shows weakness, 'Fly Me to the Moon' wonderfully transforms into a touching melodrama. This is aided by quite convincing acting performances and a truly beautiful soundtrack by composer Daniel Pemberton.

Alas, the film bombed at the box office, ultimately grossing less than half of its production budget. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that in the near future, the creators may be in for a lucrative awards season. It is unlikely that Greg Berlanti's film will sweep the awards, but the chances of getting at least a couple of nominations are quite high.

Trailer: