So this movie was downright spectacular. The music was amazing, the animation was beautiful, the adventure had me by the edge of my seat, and I was in constant tears hoping that it would all turn out okay for our characters.
But then the last 20 or so seconds of the film happens, and to clarify my feelings towards it, I feel the need to explain why I think it just doesn't work for me.
So at the very end, after we embark on that amazing journey of song and friendship, it's revealed that this entire movie was the essence of the soundtrack itself, with the implication that it didn't actually happen and that it was more of an amalgamation of what our minds could perceive when listening to music, as evidenced with the dolls of the child being the band's alien colors and not their human disguises.
This message is not a bad one, but only if used in the right context. To make a comparison but also to make sure I don't spoil other movies, try to imagine a movie centered around toys going on an adventure, but it's revealed by the end that the characters were being played by children or D&D players the whole time. While this kind of ending might bother some, and it bothers me to an extent, I understand it and can find enjoyment in it. Since the characters would be something you would play with, the idea that the game they all play is what we make of it is a novel and a somewhat heartwarming concept.
In the case of Interstella, however, I'd make the argument that since the characters, world and story wasn't a game, the ending where it turns out it was imaginary was highly unnecessary. The point of fiction in movies is to simulate a reality that is not our own, and, for a brief moment, to teleport us there. A fiction movie does not have any need to imply that its world is fiction. This would be the equivalent of Star Wars or Star Trek having its end be a bunch of nerds playing with their figures.
It undermines everything we've been through, from the aliens being unjustly kidnapped, to their struggles with loss, to their journey through the cosmos to return home. All that meant nothing, because it's what you make of the music that matters. Well then thanks for wasting my time. I'll be sure to passive-aggressively imagine something better if I ever hear this soundtrack again.
Please feel free to let me know what you guys think. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on it.