One man (well, sort of); a space station; a robot called Gerty; and, well, that's about it really. Sound riveting? Admittedly, no. Not at all. But don't let that put you off the fantastic sci-fi offering that is 'Moon'.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is a lone astronaut nearing the end of his three-year stint manning an energy mine on the moon (the solution, it would seem, to mankind's energy woes). With his monotonous days punctuated only by his interactions with the space station's artificial intelligence Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey) and recorded messages from his wife on earth, it is not surprising that Sam begins to break down.

But hallucinations of a dark-haired woman and a malfunctioning communicator become the least of Sam's problems when he crashes his moon-mobile whilst attempting to fix a faulty piece of mining equipment.

He wakes up back in the space station to discover that things are not quite as they should be. In fact, he is not quite who he should be.

To say more would pretty much give it all away.

This existential sci-fi thriller is far darker and far more exciting than its low budget ($5-million) and scant cast lets on. In fact, the scant cast works in the film's favour. Sam Rockwell is infinitely more entertaining than Tom Hanks in 'Castaway' (at least twice as good!) and his interactions with the simultaneously sinister and soothing Gerty prove that, when stranded, an AI-driven hydraulic arm with an emotion face makes a far better companion than a volleyball.