It’s a tough slog for any filmmaker to squeeze something fresh and innovative into the well-flogged genre of in-space-nobody-can-hear-you-freak-out psychological dramas, but the debut feature from director Duncan Jones is a doozie. Sam Rockwell contributes a career high tour de force performance as an astronaut afflicted by a severe case of space cabin fever in Moon, set in the future onboard a space ship that harvests moon minerals for clean energy back on earth. With just days to go before he’s to be whisked back home after three lonely years by himself, Sam Bell (Rockwell) begins to lose his mind, alone but for the occasional hallucination and the ongoing presence of the HAL-inspired, Kevin Spacey-voiced computer GERTY. The first act comprises extensive dialogue between him and his phlegmatic computer pal, essentially scene setting for the wild introspective ride to come, which kicks off when Sam bumps into…himself. That’s as far as any plot synopsis should go because the less known about what happens next, the better.

From the early moments Jones establishes Sam’s hallucinatory mind frame, questioning his grasp of reality and cloaking the story’s subsequent developments in an underlining brain-rattling uncertainty. We’re not sure for a long time what is real and what is imagined. The pace is steady but never feels slow or laboured, which is remarkable considering most of the film consists of Rockwell talking to himself. His performance feels like a full cast and scopes enormous range, reminiscent of John Cusack getting sent through the single setting wringer in the gnarly and underappreciated Stephen King adaptation 1408. Taut, compelling and fiendishly clever, Moon builds an intriguing mystery and follows through with an inspired and immaculately handled  twist. This is one helluva career kickstart for Jones – FYI, he’s David Bowie’s son – and in the barrel of noodle-scratching space psychological dramas it is an instant classic.

Moon is playing at the Melbourne International Film Festival and will be theatrically released in October.