A man and his dog are stranded on a volatile, oval-shaped planet and are forced to adapt and escape before time destroys them both.

Sometimes, there are movies that make us reconsider our daily actions. They put us to question what we are doing with our lives and what we consider important or that exceeds value for us. Ellipse (2019) is a film that’ll make you think, and at the same time doubt why you are seeing a man in space … hanging around with a dog.

Ellipse tells the story of Rauge (Grant Martin), an alleged alcoholic astronaut traveling near a new planet under the pseudonym of the film. Its purpose is to take some images for visual exploration. However, recent tragic events cause Rauge’s concentration to be null and he ends getting stranded on the planet that he was warned to not explore physically. Now, Rauge will have to face two challenges: find a way to get an alternate source of energy that allows him to reactivate his ship and deal with his personal issues with the companion of his dog which is there for some irregular reason.

This is a drama, from beginning to end, with some attempt to want to interpret an allegory to make the viewer see what is important in life. But honestly, the important thing in life is a mixed message that manages to say anything.

As the film progresses, we get to see the journey in process of the main character with a sporadic series of regressions describing the events that led him to enter that stage of depression and frustration that is constantly shown. Although the film evolves, the character never demonstrates such a thing; he is always in a state of neglecting sympathy that makes it difficult to empathize with his situation.

Story wise, it’s relatively bad. It does show some interesting graphics as special effects which aren’t out of this world but are nice looking compared to other low-budget films of its genre. As for the acting, it’s very much a fraternity-like profiled “dude” that gets drunk, makes poor life decisions and hangs around with his dog. But, I must admit, the dog has the most natural acting skills I’ve seen. #FutureOscarNominee, please.

Ellipse is a low-budget sci-fi drama with a slow developing story and acting that must be promising in another galaxy. If you’re the kind of person that loves dogs and loves watching films that involve them, then give it a chance and prepare yourself a box of tissues for all those rolling tears when the climax of the film comes.