“Moonshot” is a science-fiction romantic comedy that was released March 31 on HBOMax. The movie takes place in 2049, a time where space travel and living on Mars is considered normal. “Moonshot” surrounds Mars-obsessed Walt (Cole Sprouse), who has wanted to go to space all his life, and Sophie (Lana Condor), who suddenly decides to buy a ticket to Mars to visit her boyfriend of eight years, Calvin (Mason Gooding). While Sophie boards the rocket ship to Mars, Walt sneaks in through an escape pod and throws them together into a crash course. 

Despite my near-hatred for science fiction, I’m a huge fan of romance movies, especially those that star Cole Sprouse or Lana Condor, so I felt compelled to watch “Moonshot.” The movie depicts Walt as a nerdy and annoying college student who often misses out on many social cues and, overall, is not the smartest. This is definitely a little confusing and makes me wonder how he got into the college he did, considering everyone there is incredibly smart. Walt first meets Sophie when he breaks an orb that she used to communicate with Calvin, making her already dislike him. He later meets her again in the cafe he works at where he convinces her to buy the ticket. 

As the movie progresses, I found myself surprisingly enjoying the plot. The movie was full of jokes, which managed to keep it light, even in the most tense moments. I really liked the insight we got into Sophie’s life, along with watching how Walt and Sophie slowly start to let each other in without even realizing it.

“Moonshot,” however, still had its faults. As we got toward the end of the movie, any focus on Sophie faded away as all attention went to Walt and his realizations regarding his dreams about Mars. We get loose ends tied up from both ends, but only Walt’s side is in-depth about it. Once the final scene came to an end, I wanted something more. There should have been more romance between the two of them, but we never got it. Despite this, I still found the movie to be overall amazing, and I could see myself watching it again, even though the ending was underwhelming.