First Man is a delicate, nuanced drama that does not glamourise the event of mankind’s first landing on the moon. It is a focused, and deeply personalised look on Neil Armstrong, the man who took the iconic first step on the moon and immortalised the line associated with it.

Director Damien Chazelle again shows why he is the youngest director to win an Oscar. He makes creative decisions which keep the concentration on the people who made everything happen, instead of the historic actual event.

Mostly only the main cast is felt in light, and the rest of the world is shaded in darkness or muted shadows. The implemented ambience of being personal and grave is emotionally prevalent throughout the film. The feeling is reinforced by not using a background score in the majority of the films’ length. The music does come on whenever Neil Armstrong goes into space successfully, dialing up the sense of awe and wonder of what they are doing against the odds.

The story is build up on the book by James R. Hansen, about Neil Armstrong before the famous moon landing to the events of it just after he and others come back. A tight-lipped reserved, engineer and astronaut, Neil Armstrong is played by Gosling who is known for his character playing skills in Drive, Blade Runner 2049 and La La Land. Armstrong is first shown as the young man with a young family. His wife (Claire Foy) is his pillar of strength and calm, with a son and daughter. When the film opens, the family combats the sadness of a terminally-ill daughter, who tragically succumbs to her brain tumor.

With a job that is not leading anywhere, Armstrong joins N.A.S.A, a little tired and even more reserved, he makes new friends, has another son. Working under a lot of stress, he sees a lot of his new friends die while trying to go on the moon, making the effort to go into space grimmer and important.

Writer Josh Singer (who wrote Spotlight and The Post) grounds the movie in reality, and Chazelle fully upholds that vision. A drama that does not overtly dramatises and successfully engages the audience in the story in, what is a well-known ending, is feat. First Man is a deserving award season contender. •