Ethereal existential brilliance

I can't agree with you.

I took the mission as mostly BS sold to future citizens "for their own good." There was social upheaval on Earth, at the same time as a movement toward space and "mercy" toward prisoners. Thus, they sent people on bogus or hopeless missions into space. I think this is borne out by the ship with only dogs on it. Of what use would such a mission be? Probably a stab at population control, mixed with the usual wasteful government programs (esp. in the EU, where this was written and produced).

I took the ending as a second chance for Monte and Willow. A new beginning "somewhere" and "somewhen," since time and space scramble entering a Black Hole. I doubt we're supposed to know where they are and what they're entering. Probably another universe. But it looked hopeful.

Because of the unhinted-at jump in time, I didn't figure Willow to be his teen daughter 'til right after the "Dog Ship" incident. I thought I just hadn't kept track of all the prisoners on the ship. They were basically anonymous as it was. I just remembered their unique looks.

Continuity sucked. In the beginning, Monte lugs all the bodies to the air lock to eject them, where they unrealistically fall rather than float. Later, we see them die differently, e.g. the nurse ejecting herself and the black guy apparently committing suicide in the garden... or something.

I had to wait for the credits to get most of the names, but this may have been intentional. Their identities would not matter much as doomed ex-prisoners.

Humor I found was Willow misunderstanding a soccer (aka football) match as a religious rite. I think many here on Earth do that.

I wouldn't spend too many grey cells trying to figure it out. This was produced with tons of tax money, so who knows what all went into it and what reaction they were going for? Maybe just propaganda to sell the EU space missions. Oh, and as you said "Climate Change" - or whatever new name for it they will cook up to keep people scared.

I connected with this film just as much, this film and many others of European cinema (especially French) and Malick's recent films are journeys into the future of filmmaking or telling stories through various other forms, by giving us space not unlike that of a painting to explore our own projections upon it, our dreams, desires, traumas and subconscious memories, I love films like this the same way like I love Patrice Leconte's films for instance, it does not expain everything, it offers glimpses, gentle touches, colors and shapes, ideas yet to be finished by our own participation. I found this film actually very beautiful, not particularly gloomy or depressing, it is reflecting the journey into the unknown, the emptiness of the universe, as well as our own mind, and at the end into a new birth, symbolized by the void, the black hole, we're meant to encounter things that don't make "sense", only make us "feel" something, very much like during a deep meditation, it uncovers hidden things in our subconscious. I feel like it shows the wall many humans need to come across in order to reach the state of emptiness and bliss, I found the appearance of black hole at the end as a mere symbol of a higher life, the bliss itself, the whole film is all about the transition and transformation, being basically prisoners feels more like the idea of all of us being prisoners of our own body, our materialism. These kinds of things is very healthy to bring to our consciousness whenever we watch a film like this, even just to our own self, to ask who we are, what we hold in our own hearts and souls, what is it that we see, even when we keep them to our own selves, it is worthy of a little self exploration.

Anyway, the film is certainly a reflection of our own times, of fears of many sections of the society, but also great beautiful transformation happening on Earth.