Moonfall

Starring the ageless Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley, Moonfall ’s concept is decidedly different, as far as disaster movies go: as one might guess from the title, the moon has been knocked out of orbit, and is now on a crash course with Earth. The how and why of it, however, remains an intriguing mystery that promises to lend the film a bit of depth.

Donald Sutherland’s weathered, distinctive baritone kicks off the narrative proceedings, his intimate voice juxtaposed with a shot of the Earth’s wispy, teal horizon line from space along with some choice, reverb-drenched piano notes. At 0:36, an audiovisual blackout and silence precede a much more intense sound effect to accompany a drone dropping to the moon’s surface. Notice at 0:42 how the strobe lighting matches the tremolo effect applied to the sound, before Sutherland’s narrative continues, his character now appearing on screen.

At the midway point we get the director’s title card, which then opens to scenes on the surface of the planet showcasing the tidal turmoil caused by the moon’s “de-orbit.” Newscasters’ voiceovers colour the scene. The caustic sound design re-enters around 1:20, following by steady, heavy, thrumming percussion at 1:23. There are many synthetic sounds in the arrangement, none of which are quite identifiably pitched—befitting the palpable sense of panic and unease unfolding on screen. Sutherland’s voice is at this point a contrapuntal instrument; his soothing, calm voice comes off as unsettling in this context. The most bombastic percussion yet precedes another audiovisual blackout, bookending the first one. One more synthetic blare—not quite of the _Inception _style, but certainly of the same intent and effect—leads us out after a bit of teaser footage showing us the inside of the moon.

While there’s little to nothing melodic about the arrangement in this trailer, that’s exactly the intent: it’s squarely focused on unsettling the audioviewer with this particular disaster scenario, not unlike the trailer to box-office flop Geostorm, which apparently featured all of its best effects within those two-minutes. Arguably, it also centres the attention rightly on Sutherland’s voice—a narrator who carries an appropriate sense of gravitas and solemnity, coaxing us into the escapism and suspension of disbelief for which we so often seek out disaster films.

Moonfall arrives in theatres February 4th, 2022.

— Curtis Perry