Christopher Nolan is not a director that comes immediately to mind as someone with a sensitive eye towards the human condition. Although psychology is a recurring theme in his works, he has typically explored the subject from a more intellectual lens, even in the Dark Knight trilogy, always with adroit technical skill.

Interstellar is different. It may be his most ambitious work to date, but it may also be his most grounded film. For one, it pays humble reverence to many science fiction films of yesteryear, notably 2001. But also, the film is about the love between a father and his daughter, its trials and tribulations under the extremis of a dying world, and its ultimate reaffirmation. Much of the praise should be heaped on the actors and actresses, played by Matthew McConaughey, Mackenzie Foy, and Jessica Chastain, but as storyteller Nolan has successfully captured their relationship in a manner that is believable and emotionally resonating. Moreover, the film’s exploration of the expanse of human reaction in the setting of this extremis (deceit, survival at all costs, and the crushing burden of responsibility) also rings substantially true.

It surprises me, then, to see the considerable backlash against Nolan’s work, particularly this film. It’s not perfect, surely. I could have done without the somewhat anticlimactic coda to the story, and I found his portrayal of Americana to be somewhat forced and reflective of an outsider’s view of the United States. Particularly for a movie with universal themes, it seems odd to place it in the context of a provincial view of the dying of the American dream.

Despite these quibbles, it is an excellent film, and well worth seeing.