A lot has been said about the new movie Gravity prior to its release. Its bold, striking visuals along with its sometimes claustrophobic sense of dread are some of the top comments found in early reviews.

The more time I’ve had to think about Gravity’s emotional impact, the more I feel it is truly one of the best and most mentally exhausting films of the year.

Gravity is the brainchild of Alfonso Cuaron, whose films include Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban and Y Tu Mama Tambien. It’s been seven long years since his last movie and he has spent most of that time researching and putting the pieces together for this detailed thrill ride.

On the surface, Gravity’s story is very simple. An astronaut (George Clooney) and a medical engineer (Sandra Bullock) are on a mission to make improvements to a telescope floating in deep space. While finishing up their assignment, large chunks of debris race in their direction, destroying their shuttle and leaving them stranded in space. The film makes it very clear that life in space is impossible so once the destruction hits, Gravity becomes a ticking-clock movie as our two leads race to find a way back to Earth before it’s too late.

We have seen many movies that put central characters in life-or-death situations with tangible threats. Gravity takes that familiar idea and spins it by making outer space the villain. Cuaron does this expertly in two distinct ways. First, he introduces the big bad unknown of outer space with a fifteen minute opening shot that starts wide with a spec on the screen and slowly pushes in to reveal our main characters. From there the camera moves between Bullock and Clooney as we hear them banter back and forth but also take in the marvel and beauty of deep space. Seeing Gravity on the biggest screen possible will no doubt help enhance this effect.

Related: David Heyman talks to Hypable about Gravity pleasing astronauts, the dangers of space debris.

Second, and most importantly, Gravity is Sandra Bullock’s movie. She is our guide through this space adventure and her character’s inexperience and constant fear of death make her the perfect audience surrogate. The film packs a lot of energy and thrills in its short time (it runs a brisk 90 minutes) and the danger keeps escalating once it begins. However, while there are several big-scale set pieces in Gravity, Cuaron maximizes tension with very little. In this case, when most of the film’s darkest moments arrive, the actors are only surrounded by the dark hole of deep space. Fear of the unknown is always more terrifying and in this case, even more so.

Despite Gravity’s impressive visuals and tight storytelling, my small issue with the film comes in the form of its musical score by Steven Price. It is puzzlingly schizophrenic and sometimes destroys the film’s tension. One minute the score is subdued and lullaby-esque while in others, especially in the film’s most tense moments, the music is screeching. It’s as if he is scoring a horror movie by how loud and obvious the music is in trying to tell you that danger is approaching. For a film that revels in the quiet and subtle, it’s a strange choice to have such an obvious musical score attached to the same movie.

One last thing, a lot has been made about Gravity’s use of 3D. I’m not a fan of 3D in general but this is one of the few times that I could feel immersed in the technology rather than be distanced by it, the way most 3D movies have done. I would rather recommend you see Gravity on the biggest IMAX screen possible. That is true engagement with the film and will make for a better experience.

Grade: A-

Rated: PG-13 (for intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images and brief strong language)

Gravity is now playing in theaters nationwide.