We’ve all been confronted with the question, “What would you do if you were stranded on a desert island?” Whether you’ve given much thought to that answer or not is up to you, but the thrilling sci fi, The Martian, sheds light on what that situation might actually entail.

In this film, NASA astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, must learn how to survive on a foreign planet 140 million miles away from home after he is left by his crew following a fierce storm that was believed to have killed him. Fortunately, Watney is a botanist, allowing him to grow food on Mars. Because of Watney’s ability to grow potatoes on a desolate planet, he was able to survive five times as long as he originally anticipated. Sounds pretty cool, right?

The Martian has its share of laughs, drama, and even the occasional science lesson as Mark Watney figures out how to contact Earth. The delivery of this tale is oddly comedic, and movie goers will find themselves chuckling a bit throughout this film. “The Martian” really takes away from the feeling of Watney being trapped on Mars for four years with no human contact. I mean, nothing was more entertaining than seeing Watney cruising in his rover, jamming out to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

While The Martian was overly comedic and sarcastic, it also had its fair share of unnerving drama. Life wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies over on Mars (wait, there were never butterflies on Mars, they couldn’t exist. Scratch that.) However, it did get a bit daunting. You cannot have a film about a man trapped on a desolate planet with limited food and other resources without a few nail biting scenes, can you?

This film was jaw-dropping on so many levels; it’s hard to put into words. A skillful combination of a well-paced script, a talented cast, and out-of-this-world special effects resulted in a movie for the ages. The Martian casts us away into the farthest recesses of space while simultaneously keeping us close to home, teaching us what it truly means to be human.

If you haven’t seen this film yet, don’t wait. While it is mainly science fiction, it holds a bit of every genre, making it the best film for every type of person.