There are a couple of reasons why Gravity works as well as it does; one is due to the incredible respect paid to portraying the science of Space accurately. The tension comes from the film's ability to give the audience a basic understanding of microgravity, the Earth's orbit and the velocity and trajectory of objects moving with zero resistance, without any obvious expository dialogue. Knowing that Ryan will just keep on tumbling away without any change in direction or speed, and seeing her desperately trying to grasp anything at all is a heart-stopping experience, especially because we know that the filmmakers are not cheating us in any way. We also know that there’s no sound in Space, so all of the film’s spectacular destruction is shown without sound effects. The audience only hears what the astronauts would hear from inside their suits, like their own panicked voices, or the voices of their crew members and mission control team back on Earth. That and Steven Price’s haunting, but not overpowering score.

The other reason, is the characters and the actors that portray them. This is a film about overcoming adversity in the most dire of situations. About finding the willpower and courage to not give up and die. Sandra Bullock is a revelation in the film. This is a performance unlike any she has given before. Her character is working above the atmosphere for the first time, and was already nervous from the get go, so when things really go wrong, we feel her absolute terror tenfold. George Clooney is at his most huggable in this film; a completely charming and sympathetic turn that proves to be the heart of the film, even though he is absent from it for large chunks of time. Honestly, between this and Solaris, Clooney was born to play astronauts.