"Open Endings" by Nakeesha J. Seneb
How far would you go for redemption?
In the independent movie, “Another Earth,” Rhoda Williams’ star was shining as brightly as it could for a seventeen-year-old. She’d been accepted into MIT to study astronomy, or perhaps physics, its unclear. What was made clear was that her life was going to be brilliant! Until she crashed her car into a family of three, instantly killing a mother and son. Instead of the classrooms of MIT, Rhoda spends the next four years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. When she gets out, she prefers to keep to the shadows and becomes a janitor, as the profession demands little to no interaction with other human beings. One day, she accidentally runs into the father whose family she killed. Feeling the need to atone for her mistakes, she goes to his home with a prepared apology. Only, when he answers the door, clearly disheveled and still affected, Rhoda loses her nerve. What comes out of her mouth instead is an offer to clean his house as part of a trial maid service. Thus begins Rhoda’s touching and also twisted road to redemption. It starts with cleaning up the kitchen, and weeks later, winds up with the two of them in the bedroom. All the while, the widowed father is kept in the dark as to the true identity of this girl who brings him back from the edge. In the midst of this impossible situation, Rhoda is left struggling with the need to make his life better, after so much has been taken from him, pitted against her need to make herself feel better, after having killed his family. She wishes that she had a second chance at life; a way to go back and retract her actions.
Now is a good time to mention the reason for the title of this movie, “Another Earth.” Seconds before Rhoda crashed her car on that fateful night, she looked up into the sky and saw a pale blue dot next to the moon. Four years later, that pale blue dot has been confirmed as a parallel Earth, with parallel people living parallel lives on it. Plans to travel to the parallel world are made and an essay contest is held to determine the passengers. Incredibly, Rhoda’s essay wins her a spot. John, the widowed father, begs her not to go. Can she tell him the real reason she must go? Reveal her true identity and risk losing his love? Her decision is as unexpected as it is heart wrenching. I loved this movie with 95% of my heart. It’s that 5%, which happens in the last five seconds of the movie that I actually shouted at the screen in the theater!!!
What happens is known as an Open Ending. Think Choose Your Own Adventure, but the last page is left blank -or should I say black- for you to fill in. After a brilliant prologue, an engaging series of rising action, and a gripping climax the writer leaves the resolution of the film up to each individual viewer. I want to be angry, but I can't stop my mind from filling in pages and pages of story. Brilliance? Or bad form?
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