Insterstellar was one of the big blockbuster films of 2014 and with good reason. It’s epic, telling a big bold story with big themes about the future survival of humanity. If you’ve not seen it already, it really needs to be seen on as a big a screen as you can possible manage, because space is vast and epic. This is not a movie to be watched on your tablet or phone.

There’s a lot of stuff here about blackholes, wormholes, planetary exploration, time travel and more. Of course there is the question of whether there is other life to be found. To me that’s ok but it’s the backdrop; the more interesting stuff is to be found in the little asides in the interaction between the main characters. Here there are plenty of themes that would make for a great discussion.

Evil is what we take with us

Is there such a thing as evil? ‘Just what we take with us’ is the key line. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey)  then finds himself on a planet with ‘the best of us’ only to discover that this great man was broken, frail, cowardly, deceptive, murderous.

We didn’t invent love

Love is something observable, powerful and has meaning. Love is a force that demands reckoning with – our desire for it, our need for it. We are wide-open to sacrificial love when that love is clearly communicated.

We need forgiveness

An old scientist is dying, his mission has been staked and based on the need to deceive but at the last minute he can’t keep it up. He needs and seeks forgiveness. As a plot device it adds some new tension into the film but the love means we cannot live with deceiving those we have wronged and still claim to be good. Forgiveness is what we need.

It’s not good for man to be alone

A lot of Interstellar’s tension arrives from the power of loneliness. Genesis records the way men and women are created to work together to ‘fill the earth.’ The film carries that narrative on, just to another planet. It’s still the story of Adam and Eve.

Love for your children is powerful

There is a dissection of the power of love for children that keeps us alive, fighting for survival and it resonates. Parents should love and sacrifice for their children. This is what God does for us through Jesus – God loves His children and acts to ensure their survival, if only we would trust Him.

Because my Dad promised me

This for me was the most powerful scene, right near the end of the film. Cooper questions his daughter Murphy and asks ‘how did you know?’ and the answer comes ‘because my Dad promised me’. I cried. As Christians much of our confidence rests right there, ‘because my Dad promised me’.

What other themes would you have drawn out from this film? For other big themes in the film read this by Krish Kandiah