APOLLO 10½: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD

APOLLO 10½: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD is an imaginative animated movie streaming on Netflix that explores America in 1969, and the year’s culmination of landing a man on the moon, told from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy in Houston. APOLLO 10½ has stunning animation which brings the story to life and stresses family and friendship, but it has some strong violence, brief foul language, light off-color content, and an occult reference that warrants caution for older children.

The story is told through the memories and reflections of an older Stan. Stan recounts his time as a fourth grade boy, living in the suburbs of El Lago, Texas, just miles from NASA and Mission Control in Houston.

One day, while at recess, two suited men approach Stan and pull him aside. The two men work for NASA, and in a calculating error, built the lunar lander too small.

The two men ask if Stan would be willing to serve his country and be the first human to land on the moon in a top secret mission titled, APOLLO 10½. The men provide Stan with an alibi for his time away and tell him that training will begin in the summer of 1969.

Interwoven with NASA’s efforts to beat the world to the moon are explorations of Stan’s experiences from that era. From the popular culture, to his life in suburbia, to the adults’ reactions to the rapid technological changes, everything points to the space race. Stan, who lives with five older siblings, recalls weekends with his family, the switch to color TV, road trips in the back of a pickup truck to the beach, and time spent at the local bowling alley and arcade.

Stan’s perspective is that every one of his friends’ parents works for NASA in some way, shape or form. Everything from amusement parks to baseball stadiums remind Americans of the race to space and the potential to make history.

The finale flips between the live broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon and Stan’s experience of being the first person to step foot on the moon. By the end of the movie, it’s unclear if Apollo 10½ is real or just the intergalactic dream of a 10-year-old boy. However, the movie stresses the influence of the moon landing on American culture and children at the time as they grow up into an exciting new world of exploration and possibility.

APOLLO 10½ is an imaginative homage to the space race and 1969 America. It APOLLO 10½ uses a unique animation style that provides a fresh and captivating take on the 1969 moon landing. Although Stan has intergalactic aspirations, the movie takes time to flesh out the world that he lives in, with nods to American pop culture, the political turmoil of the time, technological advances like color TV, and new music and movies. Due to some strong violence, brief foul language, light off-color content, and an occult reference, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and young teenagers.