Exploring the themes of love, regret and eternal struggle of time in Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece Interstellar.

This last winter break, my cousins and siblings wanted us to watch a movie together. I had gathered from them that it was a space-related movie called Interstellar, which I had somewhat heard about. I couldn’t watch the movie with them since I was occupied, but they expressed how much they enjoyed it. I had watched movies that revolved around space, such as The Martian and Passengers, so I didn’t think I missed out on anything that I hadn’t seen before. Little did I know that after watching Interstellar, it would become one of my favourite movies. If you have not watched it, beware — I will be discussing the plot in detail.

The plot is essentially about finding another habitable planet to prevent humanity from going extinct due to the lack of resources on Earth. A former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) pilot named Cooper, who Matthew McConaughey plays, is tasked with going on a mission to find a habitable planet in another galaxy through a wormhole. Although the larger-than-life scientific elements make the movie interesting, the integration of intimate human connection and tragic, realistic struggles within the plot make this film unforgettable. 

Cooper is clearly an ambitious man and doesn’t appear happy about continuing farming for the rest of his life. He can’t fully accept the reality of not being able to further explore what else is out there in space. Cooper constantly showcases his love for space and advanced technology to his two children, Murph and Tom, even though those two things are regarded in their society as unimportant. The world they live in emphasizes that there is no value to anything else anymore besides farming due to the lack of food resources. 

Although Cooper wants more for his children than becoming farmers, he isn’t blind to the fact that other opportunities are limited. However, he opposes the false information the current institutions are trying to impose through the education system by making it appear that the past was filled with “useless” machinery and “fake” Apollo missions. By trying to prime the upcoming generation for subsistence practices, they’re gatekeeping the ingenuity and knowledge advancements made by humankind in the past. From his perspective, this prevents the younger generation, including his kids, from being well-educated individuals, which, as a result, limits their futures. 

Cooper’s passion for space exploration fosters an interest in his daughter Murph, who keenly listens to what he says and tags along on his adventures. One of these adventures led the two of them to find out that NASA still exists. The purpose of NASA in this new era isn’t to try to save this world but to leave it to find a new one where humans can inhabit it. Cooper doesn’t seem to understand how that’s possible since no habitable planet exists within the solar system. He learns that a wormhole is present leading to another galaxy where the previous team was sent, but they have gone silent. Although Cooper seems fascinated to learn about what NASA has been up to, hesitance is expressed on whether he wants to take this mission on and what that would mean for his family. After being told that Murph’s generation would be the last to exist on Earth if another planet is not found, he agrees to pilot the next aircraft for the next mission despite the uncertainties ahead of him. 

After deciding to take on the mission, Cooper feels like he can finally do what he was born to do, and it excites him. As he’s saying goodbye to Murph and trying to reassure her that he will be coming back, she keeps telling him that he is meant to stay as that was communicated to her from her ghost through Morse code from the books falling from her bookshelf in her room. 

Although Cooper exclaims he’s leaving to save humanity for his kids, which is a selfless act on its own, he is also taking this on for himself, which could be considered selfish. His family and passion for space are both important to him, and watching this scene initially, that is evident through the heartbreak of leaving his child behind. However, had he known what was to come and what would’ve truly cost him, he would’ve realized what he truly values more. 

He and his team are told that the previous team was last on a water planet and decided to go to it since it had the most recently transmitted data to them on Earth. The planet is close to the black hole, causing time to be dilated, where every hour on the water planet equates to seven years on Earth. Things go awry, but eventually, Cooper escapes the water planet with one of his teammates. However, 23 years have passed even though a little over three hours had passed for him. This realization of how much time had passed seems to leave Cooper flabbergasted, but it isn’t until he starts watching 23 years’ worth of video messages from his children that the reality of what he’s sacrificed hits him hard. 

After Tom’s messages end, the last one stating he’s letting go of his dad, the main musical theme of the movie comes to a silence, which eerily is loud. Grief starts to encompass Cooper as the realization hits that he probably won’t see his family again until Murph appears on the screen, all grown up. Once she states that she’s the same age as him when he left, the grief of missing years of his children’s lives takes over him. 

Matthew McConaughey showcases powerful acting in this scene, as it was this scene in the movie that made it clear to me how wide his range is in conveying a variety of emotions that capture what it’s like to love a child and the sheer grief of not being present for their important milestones. Without saying a single word throughout the scene, he does a phenomenal job causing the audience to feel every emotion Cooper is feeling. 

Fast forward to Cooper slipping into the black hole, which traps him in the fourth dimension, showcased as a never-ending bookshelf that’s tesseract styled. This bookshelf is the same as Murph’s, but he’s on the other side, allowing him to interact with Murph through spacetime. It’s revealed that present-day Cooper was the one who sent the message through Morse code to Murph 23 years prior, and older Murph figures out that it was her dad from the future who was her ghost this entire time and who was trying to get himself to stay. 

Throughout his time in the fourth dimension, Cooper watches himself saying goodbye to Murph to go on the space exploration mission. Knowing what has happened because of his decision, Cooper screams desperately at Murph not to let him leave, but his heartbreaking pleas in the abyss of the fourth dimension are not heard. Getting himself somewhat together, he communicates data he’s found on his mission through Morse code to Murph, which will help save humanity from extinction, and then he is kicked out of the tesseract. 

Cooper wakes up sometime later on a space station that’s orbiting Saturn, named “Cooper’s Station” – named after Murph because she saved the human race from a tragic end using the data communicated to her. Cooper is finally able to reunite with elderly Murph, who is on her deathbed. Murph reassures Cooper that she knew he would come back because he promised her, and he reassures her in return that he is here to stay by her side. Murph sends him off because watching her die is something no parent should have to deal with and gives him a new purpose: to find one of his lost teammates. 

Something about this scene is so beautiful and tragic that it left a bittersweet impact on me. Cooper was finally able to be with Murph again, but it was short-lived. Their goodbyes felt like a tragic completion to their story, which made me wish that the emotional embraces had lasted longer since so much time had passed between when they last saw one another. 

Once I watched this movie for the first time, I was in complete awe of how original it was. Not only was it a movie about space, but it was also about relationships, regrets, and time — aspects of life that all humans are familiar with. 

The love between Cooper and Murph is evident early on in the movie, and it’s this powerful father-daughter relationship that pushes the story ahead. It’s the reason Cooper was able to communicate with Murph; their love transcends space and time. Although Murph was angry at her father for leaving and never sent him a message until after 23 years had passed, it’s the fierce anger in that decision that showcases how deeply she cares for her father. 

She held onto the hope that one day she would reunite with him, which fostered determination within her to finish what he had started and not give up. This perseverance was not only for humankind’s sake but also for her father because she knew he would never give up on her if the roles were reversed. That faith in Cooper is displayed in the ending when they finally reunite, as she expresses that she knew he would return based on a promise. 

This entire dynamic of theirs resonated with me because it resembles my own with my father. Our bond has always been strong through the love he has shown me, especially when I feel hopeless. He’s never lost his faith in me, which has created a determination within me to keep trying whenever I am faced with an obstacle. Much like Cooper and Murph, my father and I’s care for one another is powerful enough to conquer anything.  

Cooper, watching himself from the fourth dimension leave Murph as he screams for her to stop him, showcases the relatability of looking back on regretful decisions that change the trajectory of our lives. Even though he was aware that there was uncertainty regarding when he would be coming back, his hope and excitement for space exploration, in retrospect, blinded him from realizing what he was truly more passionate about, which was his family. This scene symbolizes confronting regret and the consequences of pivotal decisions, an all too real human experience. 

I was able to empathize with the agony that comes along with having hindsight, and wishing to reverse decisions that shaped my path in ways I couldn’t have predicted. Like Cooper, I find myself haunted by critical life-altering moments where I wonder what it would’ve been like had I gone down a different road. Whether that’s an academic choice or a missed opportunity, the weight of regret can be overwhelming. 

Cooper’s realization reminded me of the importance of coming to terms with my regrets, learning from my mistakes, and embracing the self-discovery journey that has led me this far. If it were not for my choices, good or bad, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and that’s an outcome I would never want. 

It was the scene where Cooper spent a little over three hours on the water planet, while 23 years had passed on Earth, and him having to face the reality of that misfortune that made me realize that it’s the loss of time that’s the true antagonist for our beloved protagonist. If you really think about it, time is the antagonist for all of us. We are all fighting a losing battle against time, as we can never stop it, and in the end, it will defeat us. However, it isn’t necessarily about the result of this battle, but more about how we go about it until the inevitable end. 

The extreme passage of time Cooper experienced isn’t too far off from our own. Years can go by fast, and if there is no gratitude or effort in that journey, it can feel as if life was wasted. Cooper’s struggle against time caused me to reflect on how I view my own passage of time. I realized that it isn’t always about the destination at a certain point in time, but the adventure of what it took to get there.
Through the lens of Cooper’s journey, Interstellar has reminded me of the power of resilience, the value of familial bonds and the significance of embracing life’s unexpected curveballs. Not only did it captivate me with its epic narrative storytelling, stunning cinematography and powerful musical scores, but it also left a lasting impression – causing me to face my mortality by living each fleeting moment with purpose.