If the rock scene from Everything Everywhere All at Once – you know the one – unexpectedly brought a tear to your eye, make sure you bring a box of tissues to Good Night Oppy. Having its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival before playing at TIFF, this documentary tells the true story of two NASA robots who defied the odds by surviving nearly 15 years longer than expected. See how I used the word “surviving”? I almost wrote “living” which, as we all know, inanimate objects cannot be considered living things. But director Ryan White gives us reason to pause as we can’t help but form an emotional attachment to these autonomous rovers over the course of the film.

In 2004, the Mars Exploration rovers Opportunity and “twin sister” Spirit landed on opposite sides of the foreign planet. The goal coming out of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA was to determine once and for all if there was neutral water on Mars, furthering the possibility of life. A team of scientists and researchers spent years developing rovers that could investigate the Red Planet and communicate back to Earth through complex tech systems. Opportunity and Spirit were built to have a life expectancy of 90 days. So, imagine the excitement when both rovers made it to day 91 and the disbelief when they hit the one year mark, and so on until nearly 15 years later.

Of course, Good Night Oppy is only as sentimental as you allow yourself to get as the viewer. Imagine the *Criterion-selected* film Wall-E come to life – if that film tugged at your heartstrings, be prepared for a similar feeling with Oppy. Featuring photo-real special visual effects and animation by Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by George Lucas, Good Night Oppy has that classic Star Wars look: rich and stunning.

The story at the heart of the film is the quintessential American Dream. A team of scientists from around the world come together to propel US space exploration into the future, quite literally reaching for the stars. Good Night Oppy offers audiences old-fashioned, feel-good optimism and stands as a testament to just how powerful inanimate objects can be when personified by humans. 

Distributed by Prime Video. 105 minutes. Rated PG. Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.

This review originally ran on September 23, 2022 during the Toronto International Film Festival.