Another Earth is one of the coolest movies I’ve seen in a long time. One reason it’s cool is because there is a girl science geek at its center. Brit Marling — this year’s so-called “it” girl — plays both pretty and smart and at the beginning of the film is on her way to an Ivy League education and a bright future. Then one night everything goes horribly wrong and her world is shattered. All her dreams are lost and she has to figure out how to live in a world where her expectations and goals are thrown out the window.

She embarks on a program of redemption and even that doesn’t help. The Another Earth referred to in the title is the discovery of a “mirror earth” visible from here. One of the questions that film asks is how would my life look if I did not make the same mistakes?

It’s a really smart and original movie and Marling is wonderful in the lead role of Rhoda Williams.