In space, no one can hear you sigh whistfully.
There’s an undeniable charm to this lo-fi sci-fi romance that dares to strip away the usual bombastic space spectacle and focus on the very human – if occasionally awkward – business of longing, companionship, and attraction. Kristian Mercado’s If You Were the Last strands Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao in a malfunctioning space shuttle somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn, forcing them to confront the kind of relationship dilemmas that, on Earth, would be sorted out over a few drinks and some questionable text messages. But in the vast and silent void of space, there’s no such escape. Just the two of them, an abundance of time, and a gnawing question: if they’re the last two people likely to ever see each other again, what exactly is stopping them from taking the next step?
The film is carried almost entirely by the chemistry between its two leads. Mackie, always a charismatic presence, plays Adam, a NASA engineer who finds himself marooned alongside Chao’s Jane, a mission specialist with a sharp wit and an even sharper sense of restraint. Their interplay is playful yet tinged with melancholy, a push-and-pull dynamic that acknowledges both the absurdity of their situation and the emotional stakes lurking beneath the surface. They talk, they joke, they dance – literally, in one of the film’s standout sequences – and they ponder the nature of their relationship with a sincerity that keeps the film grounded, even as it floats in the great unknown.
Mercado and screenwriter Angela Bourassa understand that this is a film built on intimacy, and the decision to lean into an unapologetically lo-fi aesthetic only enhances that. The shuttle itself looks less like a sleek cinematic spacecraft and more like a retro-futuristic playset, all deliberate artifice and pastel hues, like Button Moon got a bigger budget. It’s a visual choice that complements the film’s theatrical quality, as if we’re watching a small, personal two-hander playing out on a cosmic stage. The stylised approach extends to the film’s use of music, with a soundtrack featuring Japanese Breakfast and other indie artists that weave seamlessly into the film’s mood – sometimes light and whimsical, sometimes quietly aching and occasionally cheesy (Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”).
Of course, there are complications. Back on Earth (or at least, in memory and conversation), Adam has a wife, played by Natalie Morales, and Jane has a husband, played by Geoff Stults. Their presence lingers, shaping every choice, every hesitation, and every conversation about whether or not what happens in the vast loneliness of space should stay in space. The film doesn’t shy away from the ethical knots this creates, but it also doesn’t dwell too heavily on them, preferring instead to let the emotional truth of the situation play out in the performances.
If You Were the Last is, at its core, a love story wrapped in a [washing-up] bottle episode, a meditation on what happens when all external pressures and distractions are stripped away, leaving just two people and the weight of their feelings. It’s sweet, funny, and quietly poignant, anchored by two excellent performances and a director with a clear vision for telling a small story on an enormous scale. In a genre often preoccupied with existential dread, it’s refreshing to see a film that asks, with both sincerity and a wry smile: if this was all there was, what would really matter?
