If You Were the Last (2023) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story unfolds inside a space habitat orbiting Saturn, three years into a long-duration mission. The spacecraft is a closed, self-contained world with plants, animals, and life-support systems. Intercut Earth scenes show the astronauts' spouses and the lives they left behind, emphasizing the contrast between the vastness of space and intimate domestic life.

• setting
• space
• Saturn
• spacecraft
• orbit

The movie takes place in a contemporary near-future context, approximately three years into a deep space mission. While no specific year is given, the mission appears to be a realistic NASA-style operation, and the Earth-bound characters display modern technology and political dynamics.

• time period
• era
• mission duration
• future

Isolation serves as a central theme, showing how three years in a closed spacecraft amplifies emotional distance between characters. The routine of exercise, maintenance, and private worries becomes the stage for longing and dependence. The vastness of space outside sharpens the uncertainty of rescue, pressuring the astronauts to rely on each other for sanity.

• isolation
• loneliness
• confinement
• space
• emotional distance

Confinement intensifies personal bonds, mixing professional collaboration with intimate desire. The characters negotiate boundaries and ethics when rescue seems unlikely, turning affection into a lifeline against loneliness. Their evolving relationship becomes both a refuge and a complication as the mission continues.

• romance
• relationship
• intimacy
• confinement
• emotional bonds

The crew debates whether billions should be spent to save a single astronaut, revealing tension between collective mission goals and individual attachments. The narrative weighs sacrifice, responsibility, and personal happiness against mission success, questioning when human life should trigger extraordinary measures and at what cost.

• ethics
• sacrifice
• mission
• rescue
• cost
• responsibility

Adam Gherrity (played by Anthony Mackie) is a botanist and optimistic crew member who tends plants, chickens, and a goat to keep morale high. He favors staying hopeful and seeks stress relief through humor and connection, even as rescue odds diminish. His closeness with fellow astronaut Jane tests his loyalty to his wife Savannah back on Earth.

• Adam Gherrity
• botanist
• optimistic
• character role

Jane Kuang (played by Zoë Chao) is a rational and resilient astronaut who keeps the ship running while battling the emotional toll of confinement. She contends with past instability and mission pressure, seeking sanity through companionship, music, and exploration. Her evolving bond with Adam complicates her marriage to Tom and her sense of self under extreme isolation.

• Jane Kuang
• astronaut
• rational
• resilient
• character role

Savannah Gherrity (played by Natalie Morales) is Adam's wife on Earth, portrayed as a future politician who rises to governor. She represents the world beyond the mission, appearing in video messages and press moments that reveal public life and personal sacrifice. Her relationship with Adam shifts as they navigate distance and the reality of returning to a changed life.

• Savannah Gherrity
• wife
• politician
• Earth
• character role

Tom Wright (played by Geoff Stults) is Jane's husband on Earth, who initially remains distant from the danger and isolation of space. He later reveals a history of dating others, highlighting the imperfect, human fallout of long separation. He embodies the world left behind and the resilience required to rebuild life after the mission.

• Tom Wright
• husband
• Jane
• Earth
• character role

Benson is the ship's AI and confidant, serving as a sounding board for the astronauts. The computer records their confessions and becomes a silent witness to their private lives, occasionally implicated in the perception of danger as events unfold.

• Benson
• computer
• AI
• ship
• witness
• confession

The movie carries a bittersweet tone, stemming from the central conflict between genuine connection and the complications of existing marriages. The narrative balances consistent tension from isolation and uncertain rescue with long stretches of routine and character-focused dialogue. It deals seriously with themes of isolation and infidelity while maintaining a poignant, thoughtful vibe.

• tone
• mood
• bittersweet
• emotional
• atmosphere

The narrative is moderately complex, involving a dual timeline with flashbacks to the astronauts' time in space and the fallout on Earth. The story builds through daily routines before escalating emotionally as relationships shift, creating a push-and-pull between pragmatic survival and emotional need.

• narrative
• structure
• timeline
• complexity
• storytelling