My Face is in Space
2012 · 10m · United Kingdom
Directed by Tom Jobbins
Genres: comedy, fantasy, sci-fi
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, whimsical
After NASA launches a golden record carrying his portrait into space in 1977, an ordinary man becomes convinced he will be Earth's ambassador, until his girlfriend forces him to choose between her and space.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A man's entire identity gets hijacked by a NASA PR stunt from 1977—that's the kind of absurdist premise that makes you lean back and go 'wait, WHAT?' Jobbins plays it completely straight while the logic gets weirder, which is exactly the subversive comedy everyone else would pass on.
The film operates within a clean lineage of sci-fi whimsy and romantic comedy, executing its tonal balance with the precision of someone who understands how to modulate between the fantastical and the intimate.
The entire film pivots on a single choice—playing the protagonist's delusion with complete sincerity rather than winking at the camera—and that restraint is what transforms a silly premise into something genuinely uncomfortable and real.
Reviews
Face à ce film inventif et drôle, on se laisse emporter par le grain de folie de ce récit qui relate les rêves de grandeur d'un homme ordinaire et son cruel retour à la réalité.