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A suburban kid dreams of being part of a covert mission to the moon during the first moon landing.
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The story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives. It both captures the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and the lesser-seen bottom up perspective of what it was like from an excited kid's perspective, living near NASA but mostly watching it on TV like hundreds of millions of others. It's ultimately both an exacting re-creation of this special moment in history and a kid's fantasy about being plucked from his average life in suburbia to secretly train for a covert mission to the moon.
"He may get it wrong sometimes, but filmmaker and screenwriter Richard Linklater is one of the most authoritative voices in contemporary cinema. He plays with narratives (the 'Before' trilogy), visuals ('Waking Life') and even time ('Boyhood'). Netflix exclusive movie 'Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood' blends all of Linklater's innovations together. After all, the feature film is a mirror of the filmmaker's childhood, showing the impact of the Apollo 10 space flight on his life, and using the same animation technique as 'Waking Life' - plus plenty of conversation, as is customary in his narratives. Tailor-made for the filmmaker's fans, 'Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood' knows how to bring nostalgia to the screen without excessive nostalgia, and makes the audience think about their own journey."