It would be easy, in our age of alien invasions and intergalactic wars and superheroes that fly, to forget some of the most basic horrors of our world. Namely, that of the vast expanse of the sky. There's something at once comforting and terrifying in our atmosphere, as it sustains life within its strangely limited reach into the void. But we so often are limited in film to focusing either on terrestrial great heights (mountains, skyscrapers) or space itself; if we find ourselves in the in-between places of clouds and weather, it's almost exclusively within the confines of technology (an airplane). Rarely are we subjected to the great unknown of the sky, the one thing science can only marginally predict and never control.
But in the hands of such a detail-oriented artist as Tom Harper, air travel indeed becomes nothing less than horrifying. The Aeronauts tells a historical fantasy tale of two individuals sailing into the upper atmosphere: one an adventurer, one a scientist, each hoping to prove something. The scientist, historical figure James Glaisher, is played by Eddie Redmayne, and it is his intention to study meteorology in the atmosphere. The adventurer, Amelia Rennes, is a fictitious composite figure of famous balloonists played by Felicity Jones, and her struggle to overcome trauma provides the story's emotional weight. Together, the two embark on an amazing journey to the highest reaches of the atmosphere; it quickly becomes, however, a thrilling fight for survival.
The introduction consists of Amelia and James taking off in their balloon in front of a crowd of spectators. Through flashbacks, we see segments of their lives before this event, including James's attempts to gain respect for his theories about predicting the weather and Amelia's ill-fated balloon trip that ended with the tragic death of her husband. But the meat of this film takes place up in the air, as they ascend, shattering the height record while putting their lives at risk time and again. Sudden storms, freezing temperatures, and lack of oxygen threaten them as they continue to rise, along with their own egos. But the battle-of-the-sexes seemingly set up by the introduction quickly gives way to a profoundly human story about the risks we take to learn more about our place in this world.
To that end, the existential horror of being isolated in a death-defying basket tens of thousands of feet in the air hits home hard. Thanks to some amazing visual effects and stunning cinematography, The Aeronauts feels a bit like Life of Pi or Gravity in its glorification of earthly beauty. Sweeping vistas and sunlit clouds seem to be painted on the screen as if it were to be hung in a gallery, and even the scary stuff is dreamily gorgeous. But the film never lets us forget that the basket and balloon are not particularly safe, and there's always a clear understanding that a single wrong move will end in death. Its beauty pairs well with its danger, making The Aeronauts one of the most delightful and transcendent surprises of the year.
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