CRATER

CRATER is a new family space adventure streaming on Disney+ about a young, orphaned boy on a lunar mining colony who’s promised a better life on another planet but goes for one last adventure with his friends to honor his parents’ last wish. CRATER is a fun, engaging family movie that stresses the importance of friendship, bravery, loyalty, and courage to fight for justice, but there are some scenes of peril and heavy thematic elements about death and loss.

The movie follows Caleb, who was born on a mining colony on the moon. However, both of Caleb’s parents die, seven years apart. His father told Caleb of a secret crater on the other side of the moon that his mother used to love to visit. His father vows to take him one day but is unable to do so before he dies.

Due to his father’s work in the mines, Caleb is granted a ride to a paradise planet called Omega, a stark difference to the poor, cramped, dusty life he’s known all his life on the moon. Caleb is shocked when he’s told that the spaceship going to Omega leaves in just three days.

Caleb vows to visit the crater that his parents loved and hatches a plan with his best friends, Dylan, Borny and Marcus. The four of them have been slowly gathering supplies for the journey but are forced to set their plan in motion before Caleb’s departure.

However, they run into a small problem. They have none of the mining facility’s codes to escape to the outside. Dylan devises a plan to get the help of a new girl in the colony who recently traveled from Earth. Her father knows all the codes to the bases. She agrees to help them as long as she can join them on their journey.

Although the tight-knit group of friends hesitate, they agree and the five of them set off on the adventure of a lifetime. Will Caleb be able to fulfill his parents’ dying wish, or will he meet his match in the perilous wilderness of the moon?

CRATER is a fun and engaging space adventure, with a good balance of humor and thrills. While it tackles some more adult thematic elements like death and the passage of time, it does so in an engaging way that will be compelling for young and old alike.

The production values are not on the same level as Disney’s Marvel franchise, the chemistry between the child actors carries the story forward in a compelling way. CRATER is much like a children’s version of Christopher Nolan’s space epic, INTERSTELLAR. It brings lofty themes about friendship and aging down to earth, so to speak, making it digestible for children but still entertaining for adults.

CRATER has a strong moral worldview promoting friendship, loyalty, bravery, and standing up against injustice. However, these principles are mixed with light humanist elements. For example, the characters adopt a tagline during their adventure that they’re “masters of our own fate,” and the movie never acknowledges God or a creator. That said, CRATER is still an entertaining watch the whole family can enjoy. MOVIEGUIDE® advises minor caution to younger children due to some scenes of peril and heavier themes about death and loss.