The planet is turning into an inhospitable environment and humanity is facing extinction in Christopher Nolan’s newest film, “Interstellar.”

In the near future, a blight similar to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s is destroying all the crops and oxygen on Earth, and the 21st century is to blame. Those remaining live in a world where people are scarce, farming is vital, air travel is nonexistent, and school children are taught the moon landing was a hoax.

Humanity’s desire to progress was its ultimate downfall. As a result, people are more focused on attempting to nurture the planet than to reach beyond it, and NASA has become a secret operation, hidden underground.

Most of the people left believe that returning to a simpler way of life is the only way to save the human race, but Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former NASA pilot with a background in engineering, is one of the few that still has his head in the clouds.

Living and working on his father-in-law’s farm, Cooper’s life revolves around tending to the few crops left, tinkering with abandoned robotics and spending time with his family, a 10-year-old daughter, Murphy, known as “Murph,” and his 15-year-old son, Tom.

Despite Cooper’s clear desire to explore, his life is incredibly mundane until a mysterious message in the dust leads him to NASA’s underground facility.

It’s here that Cooper learns of the devastation that Earth is headed for: that his generation might be the last on earth to survive. In order to save all of humanity, Cooper is recruited as the pilot for Endurance.

Endurance’s small crew consists of Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), Romilly (David Gyasi), Doyle (Wes Bentley), and two robots: CASE and TARS.

Although Romilly and Doyle’s involvement throughout the film is limited, Brand is a major player. As the daughter of the professor (Michael Caine) behind the mission, Brand’s relationship with him while she travels is one of many emotional strings the film likes to play with.

Their mission is to travel through a wormhole that was inexplicably found near Saturn hoping to find new habitable planets.

For the members of the Endurance, time passes—but not as quickly as it does for those left behind on earth, due to the subtleties of time and relativity that I dare not attempt to explain.

What truly separates this film from others is Nolan’s attention to detail. Not only does the film employ ideas like time, relativity, wormholes and black holes, but these concepts are explained in ways that most audiences can understand.

People often forget how interesting those subjects can be, and it fosters a desire to learn more about the universe.

With mind-boggling concepts and unexpected twists—including a surprise celebrity whose involvement in the film was never made public—Interstellar is a movie that will capture your attention and make you think about the universe.