DON’T COME BACK FROM THE MOON
Directed by BRUCE THIERRY CHEUNG
WRITTEN BY DEAN BAKOPOULOS & BRUCE THIERRY CHEUNG
PRODUCED BY JAY DAVIS, LAUREN HOEKSTRA, JAMES FRANCO, VINCE JOLIVETTE
PRODUCTION COMPANY ELYSIUM BANDINI, KALAMALKA PRODUCTIONS, GREAT POINT MEDIA
CINEMATOGRAPHY CHANANUN CHOTRUNGROJ
MUSIC BY JOHNNY JEWEL
EDITOR JOE MURPHY
2ND UNIT PHOTOGRAPHY JASON CHAU
DRAMA | SCI FI & FANTASY | 2019
Mickey, a wayward teenager living on the fringe of the California Desert, is filled with angst. His father has disappeared. One by one other men also vanish from his decaying working class town. One man props open the door to his bar and leaves a note. “I’m going to the moon,” it reads. “I took the cash.”
Mickey tries to escape the bleakness of life by causing trouble with his friends but his rage becomes too much to contain. His rash choices leave him careening towards damaging consequences. Would a budding love relationship be enough to save him?
The lure of just giving up and running away is palpable. Mickey, like his father, face the decision to resist or to heed the call of “heading to the moon.”
PRESS
"The movie’s emotional potency is undeniable, its crescendo of wounded feelings and shimmering photography leaving unexpected imprints on the eyes and heart." - Jeannette Catsoulis, NY Times
"From its opening moments through its pitch-perfect closing notes, 'Don’t Come Back from the Moon' is a stunning and stark and beautiful thing to behold. The direction and the screenplay from Bruce Thierry Cheung are both first-rate” - Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
“Cheung’s dreamlike drama is fascinating and affecting. The performances, running the gamut from Wahlberg’s implosive Mickey to Steinacker’s feisty but needy Sonya, are pitch-perfect across the board.” - Joe Leydon, Variety
"Poignant and visually striking. Cheung’s unaffected compassion for his characters grows more powerful as it proceeds. The cinematography, with its thick shadows and saturated colors, is fully attuned to the wild beauty of the edge-of-the-world setting. " - Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
