First Man is extravagant filmmaking it every way. The craft is sharp. The story is surprising. The emotion is real.

| Aug 7, 2024

Subsequently, we also see how Armstrong looks to the moon for escapism. Behind First Man is a captivating look at grief.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024

The cinematography in the film is fantastic and for his first film not about music, Chazelle gets the best score of any of his films from composer Justin Hurwitz, one that might just be my favorite score of the year so far

| Original Score: A | Apr 3, 2024

First Man is the first film of 2018 that I have seen where my thought throughout was ‘this needs to be an Oscar film.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 30, 2023

That epic Justin Hurwitz's score during the Apollo 11 launch and the astonishing Linus Sandgren's cinematography on the Moon are going to be kept in my memory forever.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 24, 2023

First Man is more than just a technical marvel. It is a film that truly captures the struggle and journey of not just America’s race to space but a man’s sacrifice to reach his ultimate goal of walking on the moon.

| Jan 31, 2023

First Man is longer than it needs to be. I kept imagining an alternate, 84-minute version of the movie made by Chazelle in his early 20s for 60,000 dollars, and decided it would almost certainly be more interesting and entertaining than the 2018 number...

| Jan 9, 2023

I love that it makes its own rules when it comes to storytelling. This is what happens when a biopic doesn’t cater to formula or expectations. The results are magnificent.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 20, 2022

Chazelle’s film is tense and gritty; a claustrophobic, in-your-face, thrilling mad dash to history, while also acting as a cerebral study in carrying grief.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 17, 2022

Both pays tribute to and realizes the necessity of people who can internalize their rather profound feelings for a cause greater than themselves.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2022

First Man is a thoughtful, lyrical exploration of masculinity as well as a celebration of human achievement.

| Feb 13, 2022

Chazelle tosses narrative norms to the side and brings you into an emotional ride loosely tied together by it's handful of main characters and main goal.

| Original Score: 96/100 | Aug 19, 2021

Gosling and Chazelle have delivered one of the year's best films.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 10, 2021

Elegantly cutting through Cold War politics, slippery metaphors on masculinity, the now archaic technologies (...) this is a story that finds its heart in a silence.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 30, 2021

It turns out a great space movie does not have to involve intergalactic war...we all underrated First Man, folks...

| Jul 28, 2021

An extraordinary film that conveys the magnitude of one of mankind's greatest achievements in a way that makes a moment that occurred 50 years ago and more than 200,000 miles away feel truly personal today.

| Jul 13, 2021

The personal drama is so compelling that it almost makes up for the film's flaws.

| Original Score: 4 / 5 | Jun 25, 2021

I loved how they chose to contextualize the first man on the moon in a very deep and personal journey for him.

| Jun 16, 2021

Damien Chazelle's First Man is an underappreciated masterpiece...

| Apr 14, 2021

Contains some thrilling moments but for the most part is like the man himself, stoic and understated.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 1, 2021