Based on the novel by Drew Goddard and Andy Weir, The Martian is a captivating movie about an astronaut, named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who is left on a hostile planet after a severe dust storm nearly kills his entire crew on a manned mission to Mars. As Mark Watney is pierced by flying debris and is unable to return for the launch back to Earth, the crew assumes his death. Without the crew knowing, Mark Watney survives and is forced to embrace various survival methods using applications of math, science and botany. Afterwards he finds an ingenious way to communicate with NASA experts such as Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and the world. As food and water supplies are set to be exhausted far before the next scheduled mission four years away, the stranded astronaut counts the Mars “sol” days before his predicted death and is determined to fight to live.

The Martian is a gripping and tense survival film of entrapment and escape, which is suitable for all people and will have you intrigued and biting your nails. It incorporates the humour of an astronaut stranded and alone, at a tremendous 55 millions of km away from home. 8 out of 10 for Riddley Scott’s The Martian.

Nil Heinz and Ana López