MOON

IT WAS A PERFECT LITTLE GEM,” SMILES director Duncan Jones, remembering the creation and runaway success of his 2009 debut Moon. “It was small and intimate and we all knew what we wanted to make – I don’t think I’ve ever felt like a project has been as pure.” Ten years on, if you ask Jones and his long-time producing partner Stuart Fenegan what the key factors behind their inaugural cinematic outing were, ambition, drive and a healthy dose of naivety will no-doubt crop up. Having cut their teeth on commercial shoots, the duo’s determination to break onto the big-screen saw them aim for the stars to tell a visually distinctive tale that combined the aesthetics of hard ’70s sci-fi with everprevalent themes of isolation and disconnection. It was a smart and taut first feature that boasted an emotionally charged turn from an always-compelling Sam Rockwell – but as the duo tell SFX, their trip to the moon happened almost by accident.