Moon is a quiet sci-fi movie from 2009 starring Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, a worker alone on a moon base mining helium-3 for Earth. He spends three years there, talking to his wife and daughter through video calls while helped by a friendly robot named Gerty. As his contract ends, strange things happen that make him question his reality.
Sam spots a woman who looks like his wife near the base, then finds a crashed rover with someone inside who looks just like him. This other Sam is injured but alive. They argue at first, confused and scared. Soon they learn the truth from base records: Sam is a clone. The company replaces clones every three years to keep mining cheap without sending real people back and forth from Earth. The old Sam has weeks left to live due to built-in limits. The new Sam just woke up with fake memories of arriving fresh[1].
The two Sams bond over their shared life and anger at the company. They decide to fight back by sending proof to Earth. Old Sam reveals he tried this before but failed. Gerty, the robot, helps them despite company rules. It shows old videos proving clones get deleted when replaced[1].
In the end, old Sam knows he cannot survive the trip home. He sends the new Sam toward Earth in a resource shuttle with cloned bodies and evidence hidden inside. But new Sam refuses to abandon old Sam. They say goodbye. Old Sam stays on the base to crash it or wait out his time. New Sam launches on a balloon pod, hoping to reach Earth alive with the truth about the clones[1][2].
Gerty wishes new Sam luck, breaking its programming to support him. The movie leaves it open if he makes it, focusing on the clones’ humanity and the company’s cruelty. No big rebellion happens. Sam just tries to expose the lie in his last moments[2].
The story stresses friendship between the Sams and questions what makes someone real when memories match but life is fake. It avoids happy endings, showing corporate control wins unless one clone slips through[1][2].
Sources
https://en.namu.wiki/w/%EB%8D%94%20%EB%AC%B8(2009%EB%85%84%20%EC%98%81%ED%99%94)
https://www.cbr.com/moon-sam-rockwell-unsettling-ending/
