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“A Million Miles Away” is an inspiring movie based on an inspiring story told in an inspiring way. It’s a tale of literally astronomical success in the face of daunting adversity, and it’s important as a reflection of hard-won representation.

But in depicting the life of a man who risked everything to pursue his lifelong dream of traveling to space, “A Million Miles Away” frustratingly plays it safe. Director and co-writer Alejandra Márquez Abella ’s portrayal of José Hernández , a Mexican-American farmworker-turned-astronaut, is wholesome and heartwarming. As played by a buoyant Michael Peña , Hernandez is consistently kind and determined. And it doesn’t deviate from that mode for its two-hour running time.

Perhaps that’s because the screenplay from Abella, Bettina Gilois , and Hernán Jiménez is based on Hernández’s memoir, which features the words “Inspiring Story” right there in the title. Perhaps this approach is intended to make the movie accessible to the largest, most family-friendly audience possible, which is an understandable goal. But in telling Hernández’s unlikely story of space flight in such a straightforward fashion, the result feels a little earthbound.

We first see José as a boy of about seven (played by the appealing Juanpi Monterrubio), traveling in the late 1960s with his family from Michoacán, Mexico, to California. There, they’ll work the fields in towns like Stockton and Salinas, and Abella establishes an engaging pace as she introduces them and the rhythms of their lives. Kids in school tease José for his accent, but he quickly reveals that he’s the sharpest of them all, especially when it comes to math. His sympathetic teacher (touchingly played by Michelle Krusiec ), who sees children like José come and go with the agricultural seasons, recognizes something special in him and urges his family to stay a while.

From here, “A Million Miles Away” hits familiar chronological biopic beats. We see José graduating from the University of the Pacific with an engineering degree and meeting the woman who will become his wife and the mother of his five children ( Rosa Salazar ). He works his way up the ranks as an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory despite the not-so-subtle racism he endures from his colleagues. And he keeps applying to the NASA space program and getting rejected, year after year—until the year he finally makes it.

Salazar is the film’s low-key MVP as the family’s anchor, Adela, bringing a grounded authenticity and sparky comic timing. But Peña is way too old to be playing this figure over such a long span of time. It’s especially distracting when the actor, who’s in his late forties, portrays Hernández as a recent college graduate in his early twenties, with very little in terms of hair and makeup to make the transition believable. Robert De Niro in “ The Irishman ,” this is not.

“A Million Miles Away” hints at the possibility of greater thematic depth, though. As everyone around him underestimates him, José wrestles with assimilation in this predominately white environment in very specific ways—the music he plays, the lunch he eats—until he realizes his heritage is what gives him strength. It's a powerful message, regardless of where your family is from, but especially for recent immigrants. And it suggests a complexity and depth of emotion that are missing elsewhere.

Instead, we get multiple training montages, which allow José to demonstrate both his perseverance and his heroism. “Tenacity is a superpower,” says fellow astronaut Kalpana Chawla ( Sarayu Blue ), another trailblazer as a woman of color in this realm. (Her words carry extra poignancy since we know Chawla would go on to perish in the 2003 Columbia shuttle explosion, which the film depicts with tasteful understatement.) No matter the challenge, Hernández is essentially a saint; the only negative in the film’s portrayal of him is that Adela complains he’s not around enough since space preparations are so all-consuming.

And just as the energy and tension should increase as the movie reaches its crucial, defining events, “A Million Miles Away” settles into a strangely comfortable zone. Still, if you’re looking for a feel-good movie to stream with the family, this one at least shoots for the stars, even if doesn’t quite reach them.

Now playing in select theaters and available on Prime Video on September 15th.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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A Million Miles Away (2023)

Rated PG for thematic elements and language.

Michael Peña as José Hernández

Rosa Salazar as Adela

Julio Cesar Cedillo as Salvador

Veronica Falcón as Julia

Garret Dillahunt as Sturckow

Bobby Soto as Beto

Alejandra Márquez Abella

Writer (based on the book by)

José M. Hernández
Bettina Gilois
Hernán Jiménez

Cinematographer

Dariela Ludlow
Hervé Schneid
Camilo Lara

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A million miles away.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 13 Reviews
Kids Say 3 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Positive messages in migrant-turned-astronaut underdog tale.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

Mexican children helping their parents work the fields in the U.S. fall asleep i

"Hell," "stupid," "dumb," "numbnuts," "shut up."

NASA, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, car brands, and some clothing brands are sh

Adults drink beer and tequila regularly.

Adults flirt, fall in love, kiss, and have children. A father insists on chapero

Any Positive Content?

Kids need stability, caring parents, and an education. You can do anything when

Hernández is portrayed as a naturally intelligent individual raised to work hard

Hernández's parents migrated from Mexico to work in the fields of California, ev

Violence & Scariness

Mexican children helping their parents work the fields in the U.S. fall asleep in school, get teased, miss out on classes, have bandages on their fingers. A woman experiences pain in childbirth. A beloved relative is killed; a shoot-out is mentioned. A space shuttle explodes on launch, killing all those on board. Astronaut training includes some scary situations, mostly underwater.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

NASA, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, car brands, and some clothing brands are shown. The film is based on an autobiography by its main character. His family's winery is mentioned by name in the end credits.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Adults flirt, fall in love, kiss, and have children. A father insists on chaperoning his grown daughter's dates.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Kids need stability, caring parents, and an education. You can do anything when you set a goal and work hard for it. Race and class should not limit a person's potential. An opportunity or open door is sometimes all a person with potential needs to excel. Tenacity is a superpower.

Positive Role Models

Hernández is portrayed as a naturally intelligent individual raised to work hard, be humble, appreciate the sacrifices of those around him, and dream big. He is a loving, loyal family member. He shows perseverance in his work ethic, not giving up in the face of rejection, and humility in managing discriminatory behavior from people around him and remembering his roots even when he finds success. His wife, Adela, supports his dreams and eventually fulfills one of her own, showing tenacity in working hard and raising her children. A teacher sticks her neck out to advance a promising student. Colleagues underestimate Hernández but support his potential when they recognize it.

Diverse Representations

Hernández's parents migrated from Mexico to work in the fields of California, eventually settling in the Central Valley to give him a more stable life and education. Their extended, bilingual and bicultural family is depicted as close-knit, and other Mexican families are shown as protective of their own. Hernández encounters subtle racism throughout his life, from schoolmates laughing at his accent, to employers underestimating his potential, to people mistaking him for a janitor. He sometimes tries to hide his culture by adapting White music and food (he doesn't want to be known as the "enchiladas guy" at work). Through hard work and perseverance, he graduates from college, gets an engineering job, and becomes the first migrant worker in space. A fellow astronaut is an Indian American who mentions how important their presence is as minorities in their specialized field.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that the biopic A Million Miles Away , based on the autobiography of José M. Hernández, is the story of a Mexican migrant worker who became an astronaut. It depicts a family achieving the so-called American dream. The main character -- played as an adult by Michael Peña -- demonstrates tenacity and perseverance in his work ethic, not giving up in the face of rejection, and humility in managing discriminatory behavior from people around him and remembering his roots. His close-knit extended Mexican family makes sacrifices to support him. He goes from trying to hide his culture -- adapting White music and eating sandwiches rather than enchiladas at work -- to being proud of what he represents as a person of color and migrant worker going into space. He helps his wife open a Mexican restaurant and works there in his spare time. Mexican children who help their parents work the fields in the United States fall asleep in school, get teased, miss out on classes, and have bandages on their fingers. A beloved relative is killed, and a shoot-out is mentioned. A space shuttle explodes on launch, killing all those on board. Astronaut training includes some scary situations, mostly underwater. Adults drink beer and tequila regularly, and there's some flirting and kissing. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

A Million Miles Away: Michael Peña joins the shuttle crew.

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (13)
Kids say (3)

Based on 13 parent reviews

Beautiful story and appropriate for everyone

Great family movie, what's the story.

A MILLION MILES AWAY star José Hernández (Juanpi Monterrubio) was born into a family of Mexican migrant workers in California in the 1960s. Hernández is constantly uprooted as his family moves up and down the Central Valley following the harvest. When a teacher ( Michelle Krusiec ) recognizes the boy's unique intelligence and potential, she talks to his parents about settling in one place so he can get a stable education. Flash-forward many years, and young adult Hernández ( Michael Peña ) is now graduating college and dreaming about becoming an astronaut. He starts a job as an engineer and gets married ( Rosa Salazar ), and he applies to the training program at NASA year after year. As his bilingual/bicultural family grows and he earns the respect of initially dismissive colleagues, he still can't get into NASA. When he finally does, his life will change forever.

Is It Any Good?

Benefiting from a well-structured script and understated directing and acting, this film molds an expectedly flattering underdog tale while resisting the fawning romanticism of some biopics. Based on the subject's own autobiography, A Million Miles Away is obviously complimentary of its subject, cherry-picking, condensing, and glossing over life details. But it manages to avoid idealization or overt nostalgia. For example, when young Hernández starts playing with a cob of corn, he fashions it into a rocket, so the corn represents a future built out of a past, not a romanticization of migrant work or a Mexican homestead. The story briskly introduces its characters to get us to Hernández's adulthood, which is assembled into parts based on his father's "five ingredients for success." It wasn't a necessary structure, but -- much like the corn and a somewhat magical theme involving migrating butterflies -- it adds to the tale's tone and meaning.

Peña embodies the future astronaut as a regular guy in a performance built around the idea of humility. His slightly pudgy and soft demeanor contributes, though it would seem he should have gotten stronger and thinner during his years of training. As his wife Adela, Salazar gives a memorably likable performance, and their relationship feels real in its tenderness. This telling wants to focus on how Hernández's unique success was built not just on his own tenacity but also on the sacrifices and support of those around him. A recurring visual theme shows groups of extended family members gathering around individuals, in celebration or in sadness, into hugging circles. The act and repeated image convey more about the significance of family and community than any dialogue could.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what José Hernández's life story represents, as depicted in A Million Miles Away . In what ways is he a role model?

The film shows a schoolteacher having a lasting impact on Hernández. Have you ever had a teacher who made a difference in your life? If so, in what ways?

A character in the film calls tenacity a "superpower." How does Hernández demonstrate perseverance ? How does this serve him well?

Hernández also demonstrates humility . Can you think of specific scenes from the film that show this?

Do you think Michael Peña was a good choice to embody Hernández? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : September 15, 2023
Cast : Michael Pena , Rosa Salazar , Bobby Soto
Director : Alejandra Márquez Abella
Inclusion Information : Female directors, Latino directors, Latino actors, Female actors, Female writers, Latino writers
Studio : Amazon Prime Video
Genre : Drama
Topics : STEM , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , History , Space and Aliens
Character Strengths : Humility , Perseverance
Run time : 120 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : thematic elements and language
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : September 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Movie Review: ‘A Million Miles Away’ charms and inspires with the tale of an unlikely astronaut

This image released by Prime shows Rosa Salazar, left, and Michael Pena in a scene from “A Million Miles Away.” (Prime via AP)

This image released by Prime shows Rosa Salazar, right, and Michael Pena in a scene from “A Million Miles Away.” (Prime via AP)

This image released by Prime shows Michael Pena in a scene from “A Million Miles Away.” (Prime via AP)

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If ever there was an inspirational story about reaching for the stars, it’s “A Million Miles Away,” the real-life journey of a how a boy who grew up as a migrant farmworker became a NASA astronaut.

It starts in the corn fields of Michoacan, Mexico, as José Hernández looks up into the sky in wonder, and it ends two hours later with him 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.

“Tell me something,” his cousin tells him. “Who better than a migrant? Somebody who knows what it’s like to dive into the unknown. Who better than that?”

Biopics with outsized heroes can lay it on thick, but “A Million Miles Away” manages to keep its hero’s feet firmly on earth before his space shot, largely thanks to star Michael Peña as Hernández and Rosa Salazar as his wife. They keep their characters’ humanity even as the soundtrack and visuals blast off. He may be an astronaut, but someone still needs to take out the trash.

Screenwriters Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez and Alejandra Márquez Abella — who base their story on Hernández’s memoir — tell a linear story of a gifted young man who is helped along the way by a teacher, his parents and his extended family. He is rejected so many times from NASA that he keeps all their letters in a folder.

Everyone sacrifices for Hernández to eventually become a mission specialist: His parents stop moving from field to field and lose their home, his wife delays her dreams of opening a restaurant and Hernández himself misses the birth of a child and spends endless hours away preparing. As an engineer, he is mistaken for a janitor at his first day at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“A Million Miles Away” is wisely more about one man’s obsession and nicely touches on topics like racism, assimilation, deferred dreams, family guilt and dedication. “Tenacity is a superpower,” he is told and that’s a pretty great lesson amid all these superhero flicks.

In many ways, the movie is an outsized twin to another biopic this year — “Flamin’ Hot,” the story of how a struggling but tenacious Mexican American janitor came up with the hit snack Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. “A Million Miles Away” even has a scene with a bowl of Doritos.

Alejandra Márquez Abella directs with assurance and there are some truly elegant touches, like when a box of paperwork dissolves to become a box of field crops or when the camera captures Hernández as a boy in the family car and then seamlessly shows him all grown up in a car following.

But the director also threatens to lay it on thick, like adding the image of a Monarch butterfly floating in the space shuttle — a symbol from the film’s first frames but one that feels labored by the time zero-gravity has been reached. We’ve already had a shot of farmworkers gazing up in their field as his shuttle streaks heaven-ward.

Better are the scenes in which Hernández tries to make himself typical NASA material, like trading in his Impala for something more suburban, eating sandwiches at work — not enchiladas — and giving up blasting Mexican music for Rick Astley. “I think you’re trying to forget who you are,” he is told.

There is a scene later with no dialogue that soars because we’ve watched Hernández persist for so long: Seeing him drive through the NASA headquarters front gate with a Los Tigres del Norte song blaring from his truck and a smile on his lips.

Peña almost underplays his hero — a smart move and nicely done — but Salazar threatens to steal the film completely as a strong, loving, stressed-out mother and wife. “We grew up watching our people make sacrifices. It’s on us now,” she says.

Toward the end, he shows up at her restaurant in one of those coveted blue astronaut coveralls for the first time after being chosen to fly to space and is promptly sent to the kitchen. They are a dishwasher down, after all, and he needs to put in a shift, NASA or not. That perfectly captures this sweet, loving and worthwhile portrait of a family’s grit.

“A Million Miles Away,” an Amazon Prime Video release, is rated PG for “thematic elements and language.” Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

Online: A Million Miles Away ' Prime Video

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A Million Miles Away Review: A Tale of Aspiration & Perseverance

A Million Miles Away is a biographical drama film that chronicles the remarkable life journey of José M. Hernández, the first Mexican-American astronaut. Starring Michael Peña as José Hernández, Garret Dillahunt as Frederick W. Sturckow, and Rosa Salazar as Adela Hernández, the film weaves together a poignant narrative of ambition, determination, and the immigrant experience.

At its core, A Million Miles Away is the story of an underprivileged migrant who literally dares to dream big and reach for the stars. The film’s premise is inherently inspiring . The film also unfolds with an authentic portrayal of José Hernández’s life, filled with obstacles, sacrifices, and unyielding perseverance.

A Million Miles Away opens with a glimpse into José’s humble upbringing. José is a child of Mexican immigrants in California’s San Joaquin Valley. His parents are the embodiment of hardworking immigrants. The type of parents who instilled in him the value of education and the idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough. The family’s financial struggles and their unshakable faith in José’s potential drive the emotional core of the narrative.

Michael Peña delivers a heartfelt and convincing performance as José Hernández. He captures the essence of José’s determination, his unwavering commitment to education, and the sheer tenacity required to break free from the cycle of poverty. Throughout the film, Peña manages to convey José’s complex mix of vulnerability and determination, making the character relatable and endearing.

The film’s supporting cast, including Garret Dillahunt as NASA astronaut Frederick W. Sturckow, adds depth to the story. Dillahunt’s portrayal of Sturckow, José’s mentor and inspiration, is nuanced and authentic. Their mentorship and eventual friendship serve as a pivotal element in José’s journey toward the stars, and the chemistry between the two actors feels genuine.

Director Alejandra Marquez Abella is known for her ability to delve into characters and their motivations. She does an admirable job of bringing José Hernández’s story to life. Dariela Ludlow dazzles with her skillful cinematography. Under her skillful guidance A Million Miles Away captures the stark beauty of the San Joaquin Valley. The film also delivers awe-inspiring visuals of space. Prieto’s work helps create a powerful juxtaposition between the humble beginnings of José’s life on Earth and his ultimate destination among the stars.

One of the film’s strengths is its attention to detail. You see this as the film meticulously depicts José’s journey. From academia to NASA’s rigorous astronaut training program, you see the attention. As the viewer, we’re taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. José faces academic challenges, navigates the complexities of applying to NASA, and undergoes physically and mentally demanding training. The film does an exceptional job of humanizing the astronaut selection process. There’s a relentless dedication required to overcome the incredible odds.

The film’s soundtrack, composed by Camilo Lara, is a notable highlight. The music perfectly complements the emotional depth of the story, enhancing the viewer’s connection to José’s struggles and triumphs. The combination of cinematography, acting, and music creates a powerful and immersive viewing experience.

In terms of visual effects, A Million Miles Away excels when depicting the breathtaking beauty of space. The scenes of José’s space missions are visually stunning and provide a sense of wonder and awe. These moments effectively capture the magnitude of his achievements and the vastness of the universe.

Where A Million Miles Away falls short, however, is in its pacing and character development. At times, the film feels rushed, glossing over crucial moments in José’s life. It could have benefited from a more leisurely exploration of his personal relationships, particularly his family dynamics and his wife’s sacrifices. These elements are touched upon but lack the depth and emotional resonance they deserve.

Rosa Salazar’s portrayal of Adela Hernández, José’s wife, is sincere but somewhat underutilized. Adela’s unwavering support and sacrifices are essential to the narrative, yet the film doesn’t delve deeply into her character or the challenges she faces as the wife of an aspiring astronaut. A more profound exploration of their relationship would have added emotional weight to the story.

The film also skims over some of José’s fellow astronaut candidates, missing an opportunity to develop secondary characters and showcase the diversity of the space program. A richer exploration of the camaraderie and competition among the candidates would have added depth to José’s journey.

Despite these shortcomings, A Million Miles Away ultimately succeeds in delivering a compelling and inspirational story. It serves as a reminder that dreams, no matter how improbable, can be achieved through unwavering determination and hard work. José Hernández’s remarkable journey from a migrant farmworker to a NASA astronaut is a testament to the American Dream, and this film encapsulates that dream beautifully.

However, the film occasionally struggles with its portrayal of space travel logistics and scientific accuracy. Some of the technical aspects, such as spacecraft operations and zero-gravity physics, are simplified for dramatic effect, which may disappoint viewers with a keen interest in space exploration. While these liberties are understandable for storytelling purposes, a more precise representation would have been added to the film’s authenticity.

A Million Miles Away is a touching and inspirational biographical drama that admirably portrays José M. Hernández’s remarkable journey from a migrant farmworker to a NASA astronaut. Michael Peña’s heartfelt performance, supported by a strong cast and exquisite cinematography, ensures that the film is emotionally engaging.

Acting - 8/10 8/10
Cinematography/Visual Effects - 7/10 7/10
Plot/Screenplay - 6.5/10 6.5/10
Setting/Theme - 7/10 7/10
Watchability - 7/10 7/10
Rewatchability - 5/10 5/10

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A Million Miles Away Review – A Heartwarming and Humble Biopic

From working the fields to flying into space – the remarkable and inspiring true story of José M. Hernandez is the feel-good family film of the year.

A boy from a family of migrant farm workers watches the moon landing in 1969 and then dreams of becoming an astronaut. A Million Miles Away is the story depicting the life of a man who risked everything to pursue his lifelong dream of traveling to space, and while at times the film feels it plays safe, it’s still awe-inspiring.

The screenplay is based on Hernández’s memoir, Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut , and what I think the film has done exceptionally well is make this story understandable to all audiences.

It’s not over-dramatic, over-played, or explicit in its content and is suitable for all viewers.

José M. Hernandez was born in Mexico. While working in the field, he co-developed the first digital mammography imaging system. He persevered to become a crew member on the Space Shuttle mission STS-128. Amazing? I think so, too.

Director and co-writer Alejandra Márquez Abella’s portrayal of José Hernández is heartwarming and humble. Michael Peña, who plays Hernandez, gives a compelling performance. He’s a fantastic actor who I think is massively underrated. His charisma melts on screen, making him delightfully easy to watch.

The storyline follows familiar chronological biopic beats as we watch Jose grow up, graduate, and chase his dreams, making it easy to follow and understand. Themes include hard work, sacrifice, perseverance, and self-confidence.

With subtle political undertones and hints of comedy, this film has a gentle balance, enough to make you think but not feel overwhelmed. However, I thought the film ran too long, and there were sections drawn out for storytelling purposes that didn’t need to be in there.

However, it’s beautifully shot, and the relationships between Hernández, his cousin, and his wife are emotional and intense—there are some honest and touching moments to look out for throughout.

It’s a heartwarming family film about a young boy who dreams about going to space. It doesn’t have the intensity and drama of other films, such as The Martian, Interstellar , or Gravity , but this one is based on an actual memoir, and life is sometimes complex in different ways.

This is the perfect family night-in movie with a runtime of 2 hours and 2 minutes. It’s undoubtedly a highlight of the year.

Is the movie a true story?

The film is inspired by the book Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut .

The book was released in 2012 and is a memoir by José Hernández that details his life and journey that led him to becoming an astronaut. The film stays close to its source, following Jose from his early years of farm work to graduating from Franklin High School in Stockton.

A teacher at his school would convince his parents to stop moving around the country, helping Jose to enter consistent education, a decision that probably shaped his future.

José went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific two years later. He would achieve a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering while studying at the University of California.

He dreamed of becoming an astronaut, so he applied to NASA, hoping to find a place in their training program. However, the application was unsuccessful. However, this did not stop Jose, who applied again and again and again.

It took him twelve attempts before he would become successful, and on August 28, 2009. Jose would fly to the stars. While in orbit, Jose would tweet updates, making him the first person to use Spanish in space.

The first tweet read:

“El primer dia de nuestra semana de ensayo simulando nuestra primer semana en el espacio! First day of simulating our first week in space!”

RELATED: A Million Miles Away Ending Explained

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Romey Norton joined Ready Steady Cut in June 2021 as a Film and TV writer, and since then, she has published over 400 articles for the website. With a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Leeds in 2017 and acting experience on screen, Romey uses her Film and TV knowledge to bring informative and detailed content for online publications and podcasting.

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DVD & Streaming

A Million Miles Away

Biography/History , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

Michael Peña as José Hernandez; Rosa Salazar as Adela; Julio Cesar Cedillo as Salvador Hernandez; Veronica Falcón as Julia Hernandez; Garret Dillahunt; Eric Johnson; Michelle Krusiec as Mrs. Young; Sarayu Blue as Kalpana Chawla; Bobby Soto as Pepito

Home Release Date

September 15, 2023
Alejandra Márquez Abella

Distributor

Prime Video

Movie Review

Perhaps when Jose Hernandez first started looking up at the summer stars, he simply felt relief.

Stars in the sky meant that he and his family were done for the day. He could wash the dirt from his skin. Let his bleeding fingers heal a bit. Sure, Jose was young. But in a family of migrant farm workers, age didn’t matter. If he could walk, he could pick: grapes, peaches, corn, you name it. Once one California field was picked, Jose’s father and mother would pack the kids in the car and drive to the next. And the next. And the next.

But then, one July night in 1969, Jose saw, along with his family, something incredible: a Saturn V rocket pushed through the sky with three people pinned to its needle-like tip. Up, up, up it went.

And suddenly, those stars seemed closer than they once did. They glittered with possibility.

Mrs. Young, Jose’s schoolteacher for a short time, had asked her class to write an essay for her, exploring the theme, “When I grow up.” She was asking her class to dream a little. What do you want to be? What do you want to do? Jose wasn’t so good with writing; he was still getting used to speaking English. But he could draw. Soon, he turned in a picture of himself piloting a corncob rocket. And in the sky filled with crayon stars, he pointed to the smiley face peering from the rocket’s window. He wrote “Astronaut. ME!”

A migrant worker’s shot of making it to space is a long one. The road ahead could be unimaginably difficult with no guarantees.

‘Course, getting to the moon at all was thought by many to be pretty outlandish, too. Turns out, the dream just needed a 363-foot rocket, 20 tons of fuel per second of flight, lots of math and even more courage.

By comparison, Jose Hernandez’ dream to become an astronaut seems like a piece of cake.

Positive Elements

Spoiler warning: Jose does make it to NASA—eventually. You can read all about the real-life Jose Hernandez on the internet. But it was hardly a piece of cake. His story is one of talent and opportunity, yes. But more than that, it’s one of dogged endurance.

Jose applied for NASA’s space program 12 times before he got in. For more than a decade, he honed his skills, developed new talents and pushed his body in order to be one of the very few people chosen.

Once he gets in, Jose is warned that most folks don’t make it through the training. But Jose is prepared for all of these challenges, and for that he can perhaps thank his father.

Jose’s real father, Salvador, only had a third-grade education. But that belies the wisdom he handed down in the form of five “ingredients” for success. The recipe begins with knowing what you want. Ingredient No. 2: knowing where you are and how far you have to go. Ingredient No. 3 is making a roadmap of how to get there, and so on. The recipe’s not (pardon the pun) rocket science. Yet, it feels so profound and actionable that it seems like every mom or dad might want to pass on similar lessons to their kids at some point.

But while Salvador’s recipe proved to be critical to Jose’s drive to become an astronaut, Salvador’s sacrifices were perhaps even more so. He and his wife had dreams, too—dreams of making enough money to buy a house of their own. But when Mrs. Young, one of Jose’s teachers, points out that all that migrant farm work could be stunting their own kids’ futures (especially that of the obviously bright Jose), they give up that dream to help foster the dreams of their children.

Jose eventually has a family of his own. His wife, Adela, and their kids must make their own sacrifices. Adela gives up her dream of owning her own restaurant for a time to fund Jose’s dream of becoming an astronaut. His kids lose precious, irreplaceable time with him. Those sacrifices are significant, and some might question whether they’re worth it. But Jose’s family doesn’t question: They form the mighty rocket that helps carry Jose to his dreams.

Jose notes that most of his rivals for a spot at NASA are Caucasian. And when he talks with an astronaut who’s in charge of Jose’s training, a woman of Indian descent, she acknowledges that there’s an added layer of difficulty for them both. They both have had to work that much harder to get where they are. But at the same time, she adds, it’s so important for others like them to see what they’ve achieved.

Jose finds support throughout his life, folks who could see beyond stereotypes to recognize Jose’s character, intelligence and drive. Mrs. Young becomes an early catalyst for the boy’s dreams. An employer later sees that Jose has talent when some of his coworkers only see a guy worthy of grunt work. His taskmasters at NASA push him hard, but it’s all for the purpose of putting him in position to succeed.

And while Jose certainly struggles with some work-life balance issues at times, his own priorities come back down to Earth (so to speak) without sacrificing his ultimate goals. He tries to spend as much time with his family as he can. After seemingly shunning aspects of his Hispanic heritage to better blend in, Jose embraces it once more. And through his story, Jose becomes a real hero for so many—but especially for those who worked in the fields and know what it’s like to have blisters on their hands.

“Who better than a migrant [to go into space]?” Jose’s cousin (affectionately called Pepito) tells him. “Somebody that knows what it’s like to dive into the unknown? Who better than that?”

Spiritual Elements

It seems that Jose and his family—both immediate and extended—are Catholics, and their faith is important to all of them. A baby is Christened in a Catholic church. A cross hangs on a wall. We see after-marriage dances and after-funeral wakes.

When Jose’s getting ready to leave for NASA, his cousin gives him an amulet—presumably a Catholic one. We know that it’s a significant gesture, but we don’t see it again. There’s a joking reference to the inquisition.

Sexual Content

Jose officially meets his future wife, Adela, at a car dealership (where Adela works). He asks her out; she says no, but only because he’ll need to meet Adela’s father first.

During that incredibly uncomfortable family meeting, Adela’s father immediately asks Jose what his intentions are.

“My daughter is not allowed to go out on dates and that kind of things,” he says. “If you want to visit her, you will always be welcome. But I have to be present.” Jose mostly adheres to the father’s rules—but he does show up early one day, and Adela’s mother tells the two of them (with a smile) to talk quickly if they have important things to say to one another. They indeed just talk, and shortly thereafter, they marry. Several children follow, and we see the two kiss affectionately.

When Jose is in isolation at NASA and prepping for a launch, Adela calls Jose up and asks what he’s doing. “Looking at a picture of Salma Hayek,” he admits. (The picture itself, which Adela sees later, is a standard celebrity still, though her outfit does display a wee bit of cleavage.) Some fellow NASA friends slipped the picture under Jose’s door and wrote a message on it: “Thank you for going to space,” “Salma” wrote. “P.S., if it doesn’t work out with you and Adela, give me a call.”

Violent Content

The space program, as we’ve learned all too well over the decades, comes with its share of dangers. Jose is at NASA during the time of the Columbia disaster (when the space shuttle broke up when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere), and he loses a good friend. We see news footage of what’s left of the shuttle reentering the atmosphere and of workers searching the crash site for debris.

One of Jose’s relatives is apparently shot and killed. The victim was “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” someone tells Jose. But Jose knows that there’ve been way too many similar “accidents” in the area lately; he was likely killed in a shootout—though whether Jose’s relative was an active participant or accidentally killed isn’t clear.

NASA training is designed to push participants to the limit: Several trainees are strapped in a capsule and submerged in a pool of water—an exercise designed to be intentionally disorienting. While not inherently dangerous (given the presence of rescue divers), we trainees unable to free themselves, necessitating help from others.

Jose gets a job as an engineer for a national laboratory in 1985, during the heart of the Cold War. The lab is working on the country’s missile defense system, and we hear some discussion about possible missile attacks and Russian invasions. Adela jokingly threatens to strangle Jose “with my bare hands” if he loses their wedding rings in space.

Crude or Profane Language

A few mild profanities are heard, including “a–,” “d–n” and “h—.” Someone hurls the epithet “numb nuts.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Jose and other characters sometimes drink beer. When he shows up at his cousin’s home with a six-pack of beer and a package of diapers, Pepito jokes that stores put the beer close to the diapers for a reason; because depressed dads on late-night diaper runs will buy it.

Jose’s dad throws back shots of tequila at Jose’s and Adela’s wedding, and he offers it to others.

Jose softly sings a song, in Spanish, that includes a reference to someone’s car tires being “full of bad weed.”

Other Negative Elements

Jose deals with racism throughout the film—one more hurdle that he must clear to reach his goals.

As a child, kids laugh at his accent. At his first job as an engineer, the receptionist mistakes him for a janitor and hands him a set of keys. (Her misconception isn’t cleared up for months, it seems.) Coworkers seem to dismiss his talents.

For a time, Jose feels hyper-aware of just how “different” his lineage and background is compared to other engineers (and aspiring astronauts). Accordingly, he asks Adela not to make him Mexican food for lunch. “I don’t want to be known as the enchiladas guy at work,” he tells her. He stops listening to his Mariachi-style music and tries to enjoy Rick Astley. He sells his tricked-out Impala, which his cousin—only half jokingly—calls a betrayal.

For years, Jose hides his literally astronomical goals from Adela. “Why wouldn’t you share this with your wife?” she eventually asks.

“Tenacity is a superpower,” someone tells Jose. And so it is.

We have no lack of heroes in the movies. After all, we live in an age of superheroes and superspies.

But folks like us? Those who don’t have super-strength and can’t turn invisible? Those who deal with petty job annoyances and familial responsibilities and real-world mess? Sometimes, it seems those heroes are missing from the screen.

Jose Hernandez is a real-world hero, one who has something to teach both kids and adults. With his father’s “five ingredients” in his back pocket and the love of his wife on his sleeve, Jose pushes to achieve his audacious, outlandish dream. And he does it not by dreaming alone, but through hard work. And work. And more work.

When Jose turns yet another application for NASA—this one in person—the astronaut accepting the application recognizes his name. He asks Jose what makes this application different.

“Over the course of the last 10 years, every academic, professional and personal decision I’ve made [has been] with the space program in mind,” he says. “I’ve gotten my master’s in electrical engineering. I’m a pilot now with over 800 miles under my belt. I have my scuba-diving certificate. I just ran the San Francisco Marathon, and I can speak Russian.

“I’ve applied 12 times,” Jose continues. “And, yes, I’ve been on the verge of giving up after each and every rejection. But you know what, sir? Here I am. So you can turn me down again if you want, but rest assured, I’ll be standing here again in a year.”

I’ve written reviews where I’ve sometimes criticized characters for chasing their dreams, no matter the cost. There’s nothing wrong with just being a good husband, a good father, I’ve said. There’s something to be said for sacrifice. And that is absolutely true.

But you know what? There’s something to be said for chasing your dreams, too. If no one did—if people always gave up on them—we’d have no astronauts, no statesmen, no football stars, no heroes. And A Million Miles Away reminds us that dreams require sacrifice, too—not just from the dreamers, but from those who love them.

In this movie, we learn that astronauts, when they go up into space, don’t go alone. They bring everyone who believed in them along for the ride.

A Million Miles Away is a great story with not just one inspirational message, but a crockpot full of them. This is one not to be missed.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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‘A Million Miles Away’ Chronicles an Inspiring True Story of a Farm Worker-Turned-Astronaut

This biopic of NASA Astronaut José M. Hernández, who dreamed big and –– spoiler alert –– made it happen through grit and determination.

Michael Pena stars in 'A Million Miles Away.'

Opening in select theaters on September 8th before premiering on Prime Video on September 15th, ‘ A Million Miles Away ’ chronicles the fascinating, ambitious true story of José M. Hernández, who went from picking crops with his family as a migrant worker to blasting off on the Space Shuttle.

Michael Peña plays Hernández, with Rosa Salazar as his equally ambitious and talented wife Adela, and the story is one to inspire anyone who dreams of making it to orbit.

A Million Miles Away

What’s the story of ‘A Million Miles Away’?

‘A Million Miles Away’ follows Hernández and his devoted family of proud migrant farm workers on a decades-long journey, from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico, to the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, to more than 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.

With the unwavering support of his hard-working parents, relatives and teachers, José’s unrelenting drive & determination culminates in the opportunity to achieve his seemingly impossible goal.

Is ‘A Million Miles Away’ worth seeing?

Michael Peña and director Alejandra Márquez Abella on the set of 'A Million Miles Away.'

It’s been quite the year for inspirational Latino stories, between ‘ Flamin’ Hot ’ and now ‘A Million Miles Away’. And if you thought breaking into the world of corporate America’s snack business was hard, try going from picking crops to riding on the Space Shuttle!

Director Alejandra Márquez José, working with co-writers Bettina Gilois and Hernán Jiménez , here adapts Hernández’ book, ‘Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut’, written with Monica Rojas Rubin.

The raw true story is one that has plenty of fuel for a movie, and Abella brings it to the screen with verve, energy and power. Hernández’ journey to NASA was far from an easy one; a bright child with a talent for math, he was nevertheless forced to move schools a lot at a young age as his family followed where the farm work was to be found. Yet, supported by his parents, he still managed to become and engineer and then, yes, an astronaut, helping to complete construction of the International Space Station.

Peña, who has long stolen scenes in much bigger movies (and has onscreen astronaut experience thanks to ‘ The Martian ’), here makes for an ideal leading man, his natural exuberance matching well with Hernández’ own.

Around him, the director has cast some great performers, with his family standing out –– not the least of which is Rosa Salazar as his dedicated wife. She’s vibrant and, unlike some biopics where the wife is reduced to standing by their husband or popping out kids at the expense of their own dreams. Adela managed to combine both.

Michael Peña and Rosa Salazar in 'A Million Miles Away.'

By the time Hernández made it into the Astronaut Candidate program, the couple had five children and Adela was ready to turn her well-honed cooking abilities into running a Mexican restaurant near the Johnson Space Center.

The story is, of course, focused on José, but it doesn’t neglect Adela, charting her own complicated, funny clan, their early dating life and how they coped with challenges (such as José’s string of rejections from NASA –– it took him 12 years just to get into the program).

NASA enthusiasts will enjoy the latest peek at astronaut training procedures, but the story doesn’t simply take off –– pun entirely intended –– when José realizes his dream; it is compelling and entertaining long before he’s glimpsed in the trademark blue jumpsuit.

Adella has crafted a film that makes you root for everyone involved, not just its central figure, and you’d have to have a heart frozen in the depths of space not to have a lump in your throat during certain moments. Watching a real-life story of determination and drive is as emotional as it is rousing.

‘A Million Miles Away’ might not break much new ground when it comes to biopics, but it’s a story worth telling, and it tells it well.

Houston, do we have any problems?

This movie largely sidesteps some common biopic issues –– after all, Hernández’ story is not as well-known as some others.

Still, there are a few issues. Given everything that happens in Hernández’ life, there is a lot to cram into the story between his family life and his career. It can sometimes feel as though you’re watching the movie on fast-forward, as events speed up and we cross several years.

It is, of course, largely unavoidable, given even a generous near two-hour running time, but it’s still jarring at times.

Jose M. Hernandez and Michael Peña on the set of 'A Million Miles Away.'

And while the story is a fascinating one (and some moments you might think were added for dramatic emphasis, such as his inspirational elementary school teacher Ms. Young, who ends up attending his launch on Discovery, are completely real), the script does occasionally flirt with cliché, people (who, we can assume were invented for the movie) spouting things that sound like a screenwriter made them up rather than an actual human.

Another noticeable concern is the make-up at different times of the story. We’re supposed to believe that Peña, 47, is Hernández through the use of some make-up and a filter. Some other scenes of the younger Hernández don’t completely convince either, and the same can be said for Salazar when portraying the older Adela Hernández.

Despite any small issues, ‘A Million Miles Away’ is most definitely worth a watch, especially for anyone of any age who is harboring a dream that people are trying to convince them is impossible. Hernández’ drive and grit pulse through the movie, and it certainly finds some fun ways to bring the story to life. And for anyone who might think, ‘well, an inspirational biopic of a real hero isn’t rocket science…’ this time, it actually is.

‘A Million Miles Away’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

Other Movies Similar to 'A Million Miles Away:'

' The Right Stuff ' (1983)
' Apollo 13 ' (1995)
' Apollo 18 ' (2011)
' Gravity ' (2013)
' Interstellar ' (2014)
' The Martian ' (2015)
' Hidden Figures ' (2016)
' First Man ' (2018)
' High Life ' (2018)
' Apollo 11 ' (2019)
‘ Ad Astra ' (2019)
' The Midnight Sky ' (2020)

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Entertainment, entertainment | movie review: ‘a million miles away’ charms and inspires with the tale of an unlikely astronaut, if ever there was an inspirational story about reaching for the stars, it’s “a million miles away,” about the real-life journey of how a boy who grew up as a migrant farmworker became a nasa astronaut.

This image released by Prime shows Michael Pena in a scene from "A Million Miles Away." (Prime via AP)

“Tell me something,” his cousin tells him. “Who better than a migrant? Somebody who knows what it’s like to dive into the unknown. Who better than that?”

“A Million Miles Away,” an Amazon Prime Video release, is rated PG for “thematic elements and language.” Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

Online: A Million Miles Away ‘ Prime Video

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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‘A Million Miles Away’ movie review: José Hernández’s journey to the stars is compelling

The emphasis on the role of josé hernández’s family and community makes ‘a million miles away’ a compelling, feel-good watch.

Updated - September 15, 2023 06:07 pm IST

Published - September 15, 2023 05:44 pm IST

A still from ‘A Million Miles Away’ | Photo Credit: Prime Video/YouTube

For anyone to literally reach the stars makes for an inspiring tale of determination and grit. For José Hernández — a migrant who spent his early childhood working in farms in the United States — when he reaches the stars, the individual’s tale expands into an important testament to a community’s resilience.

In A Million Miles Away, a biopic based on astronaut José Hernández’s book, the success of a NASA mission is not foregrounded technical prowess or intellectual feats. At a runtime of two hours, José’s (Michael Peña) story from when he dreams of becoming an astronaut, to his training at NASA, and finally his lift-off for a space mission, is spelt out in a linear fashion. Narratively, A Million Miles Away takes negligible risks. Director ‎Alejandra Márquez Abella puts his entire focus on amplifying the heart of the story —José’s family and community.

Right before José begins his training, his superiors warn that this period might be the most taxing for his family, and that they will be the ones to make sacrifices. This message of ‘you don’t owe your success to only yourself’, however, has already been firmly established from the get-go. When José’s teacher recognises a special potential in him, and urges his family to not move around for work, for the sake of providing José a stable education, his father gives up a dream to build a family house in his ancestral town in Mexico. Later, as he begins to devote more time to successfully apply at NASA, José’s wife Adela (Rosa Salazar) defers her dream of opening a restaurant, the family savings going towards José’s flight training.

A Million Miles Away (English, Spanish)

This emotional thread provides a solid-enough basis, not only for José to dare to dream, but also for the film to move from one chapter to the next. There is nothing novel about the way the underdog story plays out, but the emphasis on the role of José’s family and community makes it a compelling, feel-good watch.

However, the film’s insistence of hitting the beats of feel-good cinema, takes the punch out of its more heavier themes. Fighting for success as a Mexican immigrant, and achieving it in one of the most competitive fields in the U.S., José’s journey to the top inevitably involves his race. He is shown being teased in class, and later passed over for important assignments at work.

These incidents don’t go away until José loudly gives the right answer in class, or proves that he can do the same work as his white colleagues. While these instances feature plentiful in the film, their impact in José’s life is rushed over. In a bid to provide the success story, the film shies away from fully confronting the unique obstacles of José’s life. A Million Miles Away seeks to deliver an inspirational tale of the American dream, but sometimes falls short of digging deeper into why José’s dream necessitated a group effort to surmount racial discrimination.

However, A Million Miles Away still manages to provide a wholesome, heartfelt journey to the stars.

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A Million Miles Away (2023)

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A Million Miles Away is a heartfelt biopic that showcases José Hernández's perseverance and the toll his dreams of becoming an astronaut take on his family.
While the film lacks depth in exploring José's inner life and relationships, Michael Peña's performance and Rosa Salazar's portrayal of Adela elevate the emotional impact of the story.
The film focuses heavily on José's space goals, potentially neglecting other aspects of his life, but still delivers a feel-good and touching narrative with an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

Some of the best stories are the most inspiring ones, but biopics can fail the very real people they’re based on. This is especially true if the film in question is focused more on the message than the person at its center. Directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella from a screenplay by her, Bettina Gilois, and Hernán Jiménez, A Million Miles Away is based on the true story of José Hernández, a Mexican-American son of a farmworker who dreamed of becoming an astronaut and going to space. A Million Miles Away is genuine in the way it presents its story, and the struggle Hernández endures, but it’s also so laser-focused on his space goals that it forgets to explore his inner life.

José Hernández (Juan Pablo Monterrubio) has long harbored dreams of becoming an astronaut and working for NASA. His elementary school teacher, Miss Young (Michelle Krusiec) sees how gifted he is in math and believes he can go far. After paying a visit to his family, who travel to different farms in California for work, José’s father (Julio César Cedillo) decides to keep the family in Stockton so that José doesn’t miss anything in school. Years later, the adult José (Michael Peña) is now an engineer who lands a job he wants his parents to be proud of. But he never forgets about his astronaut goals, constantly applying to NASA’s space program , only to receive one rejection after the other. With the support of his wife Adela (Rosa Salazar), José works to gain the skills needed for NASA’s rejection to turn into an acceptance.

The biopic has a lot of heart, and there are quite a few touching moments. The story is fueled by José’s perseverance and tenacity in the face of rejection. Achieving a dream takes its toll on José’s family over the years, and A Million Miles Away doesn’t shy away from showcasing how hard one’s singular goals can be on everyone they’re close to. There is a lot of sacrifice, frustration, and guilt, and the biographical drama is attuned to how such feelings affect José’s relationships, especially the one he shares with Adela, whose own dreams are often put on hold while she takes on the brunt of family responsibility. The script is gentle in its handling of José’s personal life, and that is reflected in the way Márquez Abella frames the scenes. The director is able to show — be it through montages and individual scenes — the resilience and strength it takes to overcome obstacles.

Peña is also able to elevate the film through his performance, his portrayal conveying the undeterred spirit of José’s plight. It doesn’t always help that the film doesn’t delve deeper into José’s interiority, but the actor does a lot with the material provided, showcasing the myriad of emotions his character experiences at every turn. The scene stealer is perhaps Salazar, who does some profound work with the little she is given. A Million Miles Away rarely gives her more to do beyond the role of supportive wife, but it at least engages with the frustration she feels about José’s dreams, and how they have occasionally stifled her own. Throughout the film, Salazar is impressive, conveying Adela’s love, irritation, support, and fears; they’re written on her face so clearly, even if she doesn’t always give voice to them.

And while the biopic is a story for those who dream big despite the hurdles life can throw, or the inequality built into the system, it glosses over much of José’s personal life to the detriment of the overall story. José’s entire personality revolves around his dream of being an astronaut; it practically suffocates his character, preventing any further development beyond that single goal. He and Adela might run into conflict, but it’s a bit jarring when their conversations — especially as it pertains to her disquiet — are cut short. Characterizations are underdeveloped in general, and there could have been more time spent on other aspects of José’s life and relationships, providing him and the film with more depth.

That aside, A Million Miles Away is a good-natured, feel-good, and heartfelt biopic. It has enough to keep you engaged and José Hernández’s story is one to root for, his dreams, persistence, and ambition taking front and center. And though it doesn’t delve too much beyond the surface, the film gets its point across and does so in a touching way. The buildup at least leads to an emotionally satisfying conclusion that is sure to tug at the heartstrings regardless of some of the character development it left behind along the way.

A Million Miles Away is now streaming on Prime Video. The film is 121 minutes long and rated PG for thematic elements and language.

A Million Miles Away

Based on the true story of Nasa Engineer who came from a migrant farmer family, A Million Miles away tells the story of José Hernández on his decades-long quest to travel to outer space. The film follows José, his family, and his supportive community as they come together to help him achieve the dream they all now carry.

2.5 star movies

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – A Million Miles Away (2023)

September 12, 2023 by Robert Kojder

A Million Miles Away , 2023.

Directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella. Starring Michael Peña, Garret Dillahunt, Rosa Salazar, Bobby Soto, Julio Cedillo, Veronica Falcón, Sarayu Blue, Eric Johnson, Jordan Dean, Ashley Ciarra, Michelle Krusiec, Emma Fassler, Michael Adler, Carlos S. Sanchez, Marilyn Uribe, and Isaac Arellanes.

Follows Jose Hernandez, the first migrant farmworker to travel to space. A tale of perseverance, community, and sacrifice to accomplish an impossible dream.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, A Million Miles Away wouldn’t exist.

Told in comforting, family-friendly fashion, A Million Miles Away is a moving, inspiring biopic about José Hernandez, a migrant farmworker who at one point was rejected by NASA eleven times before submitting his application for a twelfth time in person, pleading his case. Whether it be casual racism or legitimate lack of experience (considering much of the film takes place across the 1980s and 1990s, it’s safe to say it was a combination of both), José (endearingly and winningly played by Michael Peña, refreshingly and skillfully slipping back into a more dramatic role reminding viewers that he is more than brilliant comedic timing and punchlines) refused to give up, holding onto the rejection letters as if they were keepsakes and something to look at to fuel his drive further.

He is also afraid to vocalize his dream to his loving wife, Adela (Rosa Salazar), who playfully laughed in his face when he told her about this dream when they first got to know one another. Meanwhile, Adela also has a dream to open a restaurant, allowing co-writer and director Alejandra Márquez Abella (penning the script alongside Bettina Gilois and Hernán Jiménez, based on the book by the real José Hernandez) to juxtapose these wildly different goals while also telling a story about sacrifice and the various reasons someone might shoot for the stars.

The film works best when it’s willing to explore the mild flaws that come from José Hernandez’s compulsive obsession with reaching space, naturally giving up time to be a father so he can go from engineer to a space center job, often finding holes in established data or proving his worth in other areas (even when he initially starts from the bottom xeroxing papers.) Once Adela realizes how serious this is to José, the relationship dynamic transitions into them sincerely supporting and motivating each other.

There are also early childhood segments (depicting televised footage of the space race and teachers that sparked his passion for science) and a look at early adulthood for José (with what appears to be a de-aged Michael Peña that mostly passes), providing insight into his life as a migrant farmer and traveling back and forth from California to Mexico, frequently ending up in different schools as his family works hard and makes sacrifices of their own to push José in the right direction to achieve his ambitious goals. Motivational relatives range from fathers to cousins, and some tragedy also pushes José to enter space. Of course, there are the usual training montages once it’s time for José to master everything from piloting to underwater diving.

This is one way of saying there is hardly anything fresh or innovative about A Million Miles Away , which primarily functions as a run-of-the-mill biopic. However, it is elevated by dramatically compelling performances, even when it occasionally leans into Wikipedia storytelling. There are also several striking shots from cinematographer Dariela Ludlow, typically framing characters far away and keeping them silhouetted in outer space darkness as they have serious discussions about these dreams.

Mostly, A Million Miles Away is simply a cozy, heartwarming tale with specificity in José Hernandez’s Mexican-American background but also universal appeal in its depiction of outer space preparation, resiliency, and pushing forward through rejection, refusing to give up on one’s dreams.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away' charms and inspires with the tale of an unlikely astronaut

Film-fall preview.

If ever there was an inspirational story about reaching for the stars, it's “A Million Miles Away,” the real-life journey of a how a boy who grew up as a migrant farmworker became a NASA astronaut.

“Tell me something," his cousin tells him. "Who better than a migrant? Somebody who knows what it’s like to dive into the unknown. Who better than that?”

Biopics with outsized heroes can lay it on thick, but “A Million Miles Away” manages to keep its hero's feet firmly on earth before his space shot, largely thanks to star Michael Peña as Hernández and Rosa Salazar as his wife. They keep their characters' humanity even as the soundtrack and visuals blast off. He may be an astronaut, but someone still needs to take out the trash.

“A Million Miles Away” is wisely more about one man's obsession and nicely touches on topics like racism, assimilation, deferred dreams, family guilt and dedication. “Tenacity is a superpower,” he is told and that's a pretty great lesson amid all these superhero flicks.

But the director also threatens to lay it on thick, like adding the image of a Monarch butterfly floating in the space shuttle — a symbol from the film's first frames but one that feels labored by the time zero-gravity has been reached. We've already had a shot of farmworkers gazing up in their field as his shuttle streaks heaven-ward.

There is a scene later with no dialogue that soars because we've watched Hernández persist for so long: Seeing him drive through the NASA headquarters front gate with a Los Tigres del Norte song blaring from his truck and a smile on his lips.

“A Million Miles Away,” an Amazon Prime Video release, is rated PG for “thematic elements and language.” Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

Online: A Million Miles Away ' Prime Video

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘A Million Miles Away’ on Amazon Prime Video, a Feelgood Inspirational Bio about Mexican-American Astronaut Jose Hernandez

Where to stream:.

A Million Miles Away
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Is The ‘A Million Miles Away’ Movie Streaming on Netflix?

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BOATS movie alert: A Million Miles Away ( now streaming on Amazon Prime Video ) is the Based On A True Story story of Jose Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant and son of migrant farmers who dreamed of becoming an astronaut – and then he became an astronaut. Eventually, at least. It took a while, and a lot of hard work, as you’re about to see. The perennially underrated Michael Pena plays Hernandez, whose autobiography was the basis of this movie from director Alejandra Marquez Abella. Will it succumb to the usual biopic cliches, or give us some inspiring drama? Both, as it turns out.

A MILLION MILES AWAY : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: We open with tearful goodbyes. The Hernandez family leaves Michoacan for California, and we hear a Spanish-language version of ‘California Dreaming’ which transforms into an English version after they cross the border. Notably, young Jose Hernandez (Juan Pablo Monterrubio) holds an ear of corn out the window, and “flies” it like a rocket, the leaves resembling a plume of flame blasting from the engines. It looks like the 1960s, but we’re not quite sure. We see Jose in school, where we learn he’s head-and-shoulders above his classmates at math; for his when-I-grow-up assignment, he draws himself in an ear of corn “rocket” that’s blasting off. He attended multiple schools as his family briefly settled and worked the local fields and packed up and moved on to briefly settle somewhere else and work the fields before they moved on again, etc., with hopes of earning enough money to move back to Michoacan and buy a house. But Jose’s teacher drops in on his parents and says he’s a bright kid and his education is suffering due to all the moving and inconsistency. So they settle down in Stockton, California, where the family sets aside its dreams of going back to Mexico, all for Jose’s education, something his father will never, ever let him forget. And somewhere in here, we get a title card proclaiming it’s 1969, affirming my assumption.

That’s all a 17-minute preamble followed by a title card showing us the movie title and a hop to 1985. Jose is now played by Pena, and is a fresh out of college with an engineering degree and a job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a research center. There, he helps develop Cold War defense systems that’ll hopefully defend the country from Russian nuclear missiles; meanwhile, he sends application after application to NASA’s space program, and gets rejection letter after rejection letter. He feels out of place at work, where people see a Mexican guy and assume he’s the janitor. To help fit in, he trades in his tricked-out vintage Impala, and ends up asking out the office manager, Adela (Rosa Salazar), who’s charmed by his nervous, stumbling demeanor. I mean, Jose is a nice guy, and smart, with a heart of gold, so who wouldn’t be charmed?

Jose finally gets a W at work, and before you know it, he’s leading the department. Meanwhile, Adela sits down with him and shares that she wants to be a chef and own a restaurant, and he says he wants to be an astronaut, and she laughs and laughs then realizes he’s serious and then takes him seriously, so seriously that the next scene cuts right to their wedding, which tells us he got a W with this lovely, whip-smart woman, too. Next is a montage of babies – so many babies; Jose and Adela eventually stop at five – and then a scene in which Adela learns he’s been secretly applying to NASA. She’s not happy he kept it a secret, because she’d’ve said much earlier that they’ll do whatever it takes to get his tuckus into orbit. And now, another montage, where Jose learns to be a pilot and scuba diver, etc., all the stuff that’ll hopefully make him a prime astronaut candidate – and another series of rejection letters that he crumples up in frustration, then flattens out and puts in a box. Now it’s 1999, then 2003, then 2008 and, gasp, pant, is he in outer space yet? No, but it’s coming, I promise.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: A Million Miles Away is what might happen if Apollo 13 or First Man had been funneled through the immigrant experience. (And the last time Pena turned up in an astronaut movie? Moonfall !)

Performance Worth Watching: It’s nice to see Pena land a leading-man role. The writing in A Million Miles Away isn’t particularly, ahem, stellar , so he doesn’t get a lot of screenplay support here, but his characterization of Hernandez as a portrait of optimism carries us through. Note, I was about to highlight Salazar here, but her Marisa Tomei-esque bubbly performance early in the film transforms into a fairly rote stressed-out-wife role, proof that she doesn’t enjoy much screenplay support either.

Memorable Dialogue: Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla gives Jose a pep talk: “Do you know how important it is that someone like you or I jump on this ride? I too had to work so hard. Tenacity is a superpower.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Early in A Million Miles Away , Jose’s teacher tells him, “You are a force of nature. Nothing will stop you,” and this is the movie doing what it does a touch too frequently: telling us what’s happening instead of showing us. I’m not sure we ever truly understand what drives Jose to be among the very, very few people who have enough of the Right Stuff to make it to outer space beyond, hey, who wouldn’t want to go to outer space? It seems like a cool place to hang out for a week or two. Although depth of character isn’t the film’s strong suit, that doesn’t mean it’s superficial; maybe it’s too mediumweight for its own good at times, taking what’s surely a compelling real-life public figure and blanding him up for a feelgood biopic bent on middle-of-the-road mass appeal. There are moments where it’s more montage than movie, as it attempts to cover vast swaths of the man’s life as efficiently as possible, like the rare Wikipedia entry that gives us the basics without being too skimpy or burying us in needless detail.

Despite its rickety foundation, the movie works for the most part, pushing past some of the rote look-at-all-the-sacrifices-Jose’s-family-made-for-him melodrama to emphasize the challenges a Mexican-American man must overcome to achieve a wild dream. Racism isn’t a main character here, but a relatively subtle recurring theme, and it takes every iota of support from Jose’s tight-knit extended family to bolster his confidence and keep him committed. Take the sequence where other astronauts’ families gather to watch the Space Shuttle launch, and where most groups are subdued, Jose’s family turns a NASA dorm room into a party with tequila and music, because that’s what they do for every celebratory gathering. That communal fabric ties together Jose’s story, which is driven by Pena’s performance, heartwarming throughout and a little bit poetic at the end, elements that are more than enough to overcome the movie’s shortcomings.

Our Call: STREAM IT. There’s a nagging sense that A Million Miles Away could have been bolder and better, but that doesn’t mean we should fire it into space. It’s a perfectly watchable biopic that audiences of all ages should find at least modestly inspiring.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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The Remarkable True Story That Inspired 'A Million Miles Away'

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The Big Picture

The film A Million Miles Away tells the inspiring true story of José Moreno Hernández, a son of migrant workers who becomes a NASA astronaut.
Michael Peña delivers a diverse and compelling performance as Hernández, showcasing his talent as an actor.
The director, Alejandra Márquez Abella, aims to tell the story as factually and honestly as possible, receiving praise from Hernández himself for her portrayal.

Sometimes you watch a film to be swept up in the escapism and special effects of a fictional set of characters doing unbelievable things. Then there are the movies that are so incredibly inspirational because you know that everything in them actually happened. We head to space in the Prime Video movie A Million Miles Away , which tells the amazing true story of Michael Peña 's José Moreno Hernández. Hernández who has one of the most unlikely and American journeys you will ever find. Fresh off of his turn as Domingo "Ding" Chavez in the fourth and final season of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan , the veteran actor really shows off the diversity that we've grown accustomed to from his roles in Ant-Man , End of Watch , and as another space engineer in The Martian . And the unlikely story of an American son of migrant workers turned NASA astronaut is refreshingly honest and true to the actual story. The film is based on Henandez's 2012 autobiography of the same name.

A Million Miles Away

Who is 'a million miles away's josé m. hernández.

Born in 1962 in French Camp, California as the son of migrant farm workers from Mexico , things were very difficult for José growing up. Money was always hard to come by and the nature of his family's work meant that he was never really able to settle into one spot for very long. That can be extremely difficult for a child both emotionally and psychologically. In A Million Miles Away , you feel for him as the depiction of his frustrated parents and the hand-to-mouth lifestyle that they live isn't sugarcoated. Hernández didn't actually learn to speak English until he was 12 years old. So, when he went into the family trade when he was old enough, it was what was expected of him and his numerous siblings, But Hernández had much larger dreams and the intelligence to eventually make them a reality. As a transient student, however, what was an already seemingly unachievable goal became that much harder as his education was very much piced together. But Hernández never took his eyes off the prize, and Michael Peña deftly portrays the hardscrabble journey of one man who is hellbent on bucking the system and making it into space eventually graduating from both the University of the Pacific and U.C. Santa Barbara with a Master’s Degree in Engineering.

What Is 'A Million Miles Away' About?

What is it about the stars of the Ant-Man franchise? Neither Michael Peña nor Paul Rudd seem to age at all. So when Peña, 47, steps into the role of Hernández in his twenties, you don't question the casting. Peña has a youthful exuberance and energy that he brings to most of his roles and is a perfect fit for this great true story. There is a scene where Hernández and Adela ( Rosa Salazar ) share their biggest dreams with each other. Adela has measured dreams that are noble enough, but when José tells her he wants to be an astronaut, she laughs out loud for a long while, until it becomes a little uncomfortable as Peña remains stone-faced and completely serious. It's at that point that she realizes that the 10-year-old boy who fell in love with space and space travel while working in the farming fields of the Central Valley in California wasn't joking.

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The way Hernández recollects it was in 1972 when he had the dream saying, "I was watching the very last Apollo mission, kneeling down in front of a black-and-white TV, hanging on to the rabbit ear antennas to improve the reception watching Gene Cernan walking the moon... Then I went outside, and I saw the moon, almost full, came back, and heard the reporter Walter Cronkite narrate that whole moonwalk. That's when I was hooked. 'That's it,' I said, 'I want to be like that guy." After he obtained his advanced education, it isn't as if he immediately got into the NASA program and began training. A Million Miles Away shows an indefatigable Hernández who was turned down for the program an astonishing 11 times before being accepted on his twelfth try. He was 39 years old when he first started his training in 2001 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. And the rest is history with the epic feel-good story.

Director Alejandra Márquez Abella Wanted To Keep Things as Honest as Possible

Michael Peña as José Hernandez and Rosa Salazar as Adela in A Million Miles Away

Director Alejandra Márquez Abella does an admirable job of telling the story as factually and linearly as possible. It was important to her that the facts propel the story, but she also admits to fudging minor details here and there telling USA Today in a recent interview , "It happens more so with stories that feel so improbable like José's. If someone tells you his story, you're going to be like, 'Really? A migrant farmworker turned astronaut? That really happened?' (It) can feel so unbelievable, so you have to have a clear trajectory within the film and have it be emotional, so it doesn't let go of the viewer." Hernández applauded her directorial effort saying, "(She did) a masterful job at representing my story and ensuring that it wasn't just a story about one individual as a migrant farmworker to become a NASA astronaut but rather a community effort." So with a big "thumbs up" from the man himself, you can feel good about the authenticity of what you see depicted on screen in A Million Miles Away.

When Did José Hernández Finally Make it to Space?

In 2008, at the age of 46, Hernández was finally selected to be a mission specialist on the STS-128 mission into space. The crew on board took a 14-day journey that ended on September 11, 2009. He was the first person to use the Spanish language while in space with a tweet that read, "Micro G (gravity) is great." Now 61, Hernández resides in Lodi, California with his wife and five children after running for Congress in the Bay Area’s 10th District in 2012. Today, he and his family enjoy life as owners and operators of a winery called Tierra Luna (Earth-Moon) Cellars. He also serves as a Regent of the University of California while also making the rounds as a motivational speaker . But no matter how far the unimaginable dream starts to appear in the rearview mirror, Hernández is still just a humble migrant farmer at heart saying, “You can take a kid out of the farm but not the farm from the kid." And A Million Miles Away is a terrific movie that tells an unlikely story with charm and honesty.

A Million Miles Away is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

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Michael Peña Dares to Dream in A Million Miles Away Trailer

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Beetlejuice beetlejuice tracking for one of the biggest september openings in history, despicable me director has a surprising take on a live-action minions movie.

" A Million Miles Away " is an inspiring biopic about José Hernández, a farmworker turned NASA astronaut, and his journey from a village in Mexico to space.
The film showcases José's tenacity and determination in overcoming challenges and achieving his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut.
José's story is a tribute to the loyalty and tenacity of his family, as well as anyone who dares to dream. The film releases on Prime Video on September 15th.

Prime Video has released a trailer and first look images for its upcoming A Million Miles Away , an inspiring biopic that tells the tale of José Hernández, a farmworker turned NASA astronaut. The film follows José, portrayed by Michael Peña , and his family of migrant farmworkers on a decades-long journey, all the way from a village in Michoacán, Mexico, to the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley to José's flight to more than 200 miles above Earth in the International Space Station.

José's childhood dream of becoming an astronaut was seemingly impossible, but through José's tenacity, determination and drive and the never faltering support of his family and teachers, he achieves what seems unachievable. The trailer shows that José's journey is riddled with challenges, there's rejection year after year. At one point, the engineer is thought to be a custodian, but José's desire never wavers. As the trailer comes to a close, we're given a satisfying glimps of José's dream come true.

Peña, best known for his work on Crash , Battle: Los Angeles, Narcos: Mexico and Jack Ryan , leads the cast as José Hernández. A Million Miles Away also stars Rosa Salazar ( Alita: Battle Angel ), Veronica Falcon ( Queen of the South) , Garret Dillahunt ( Fear the Walking Dead ), and Sarayu Blue ( To All the Boys ). The film reunites Peña with his Narcos: Mexico castmates Julio Cesar Cadillo ( Sicario ) and Bobby Soto ( Flamin’ Hot ).

A Million Miles Away is written and directed by the critically-acclaimed Alejandra Márquez Abella, whose past credits include Northern Skies Over Empty Space and The Good Girls. The film does more than celebrate José's achievement, and also serves as a tribute to the loyalty and tenacity of the Hernández family, as well as anyone who dares to dream. A Million Miles Away drops on Prime Video on September 15.

Related: The Best Outer Space Movies of The 2000s, Ranked

The Real José Hernández

Hernández was born in 1962 in California, but spent his childhood years split between the states and his family's hometown in Michoacán, Mexico. As a child he worked with his family and other farmworkers throughout the California fields harvesting strawberries, cucumbers, cherries, tomatoes and grapes. Although a native of the United States, Hernández didn't learn to speak English until he was 12 years old.

While in college, Hernández participated in an academic program that provided support to youth from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to attain degrees in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields. After earning his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Pacific in 1984, he pursued higher education, and earned an MS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California.

After years of rejection, Hernández was selected for NASA's astronaut training in 2004. He worked a number of assignments, include serving as an aquanaut for an eleven-day mission in 2007, until his 2008 selection. On August 28, 2009, Hernández achieved his childhood dream, serving as a mission specialist on the STS-128. The journey concluded on September 11, 2009. After 12 years, Hernández left NASA. Today, he owns a 20 acre vineyard in California and bottles wine under the Tierra Luna Cellars label.

Michael Pena

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Ukraine war latest: Western rockets destroyed key Russian bridge, Moscow claims - as Ukraine 'inflicts maximum damage' in Kursk

The Russian defence ministry claims rockets shipped from a Western nation were used by Kyiv to destroy a key bridge in Kursk, Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his forces are inflicting "maximum damage" on the Russian army in the region, as he explains what's behind the incursion.

Saturday 17 August 2024 11:11, UK

Zelenskyy says Ukraine inflicting 'maximum damage' on Russian forces in Kursk
Kyiv used Western rockets to destroy Russian bridge, says Moscow
Putin's forces capture territory in Donetsk - amid Ukrainian strikes on region
'We could lose': Russian state TV commentators gloomy over Kursk
Sean Bell: Humiliated Putin will respond ruthlessly to Ukrainian masterstroke
Michael Clarke : Pokrovsk in real trouble as Russian troops advance
Listen to the Daily above and tap here to follow wherever you get your podcasts
Live reporting by Brad Young

Ukraine's offensive in Kursk will show the West that escalating attacks against Russia is "nothing to be afraid of", says a former foreign policy adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Igor Novikov says Kyiv is calling Russia's bluff and giving Ukraine a chance to avoid defeat by switching from "meat grinder" warfare to an asymmetrical one.

And putting Ukrainian troops on Russian soil has major psychological upsides, he added.

"The main goal of this is to destabilise the Russian elites. Russia is not a monolith. Obviously there's Putin on top, but there are many different power players there and hopefully this will awaken some of them to the fact that Putin has gone too far."

Turning to the Russian population, he says: "Now the war has come to them.

"It's a wake up call to them to think and seriously consider what they stand for and what their government stands for."

Back in Ukraine, the move has been "magical" for morale.

"People got really fatigued of this meat grinder-style war that had no bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"Now Russia's on the back foot and people are happy about it."

Mr Novikov says there can be "no victory against Russia" through conventional warfare.

"Russia is way bigger, has way more resources, and without full support from the West, like all-in kind of support, Ukraine would have lost eventually."

But asymmetrical warfare gives Ukraine a chance of avoiding defeat, he said.

"This offensive was going to put pressure on Putin. It's going to show the West that escalating against Russia is actually a winning strategy and nothing to be afraid of. That Russia is bluffing most of the time."

We've more information on the Russian attack on Sumy city that we reported earlier this morning.

Pictures show approximately 10 cars ablaze after strikes outside several apartment buildings.

Some 41 explosions were recorded across the Sumy region, according to its regional military administration, caused by missiles, airstrikes, drones, tank shells and artillery.

"Russians continue to commit crimes against the civilian population of Sumy Oblast, directing rockets at residential buildings in populated areas," the Sumy administration posted on Telegram.

Vladimir Putin will be feeling "angry and potentially humiliated" by Ukraine's surprise invasion of Kursk, says military analyst Sean Bell.

He will not accept any negotiations involving the occupied territory, despite Ukrainian ambitions, and will instead deal with it "ruthlessly", Bell said.

But for now, Putin has two choices: play to Ukraine's agenda and bolster Kursk's defences with some of his elite units from the frontline in the Donbas, or move fresh troops down from the Lithuanian border and up from Crimea.

"But none of those troops will be battle-hardened and you only have to look back to the Second World War, that Blitzkrieg worked because they had battle-hardened troops," said Bell.

"They will be no match for Ukrainian forces on the front foot."

He continued: "Ukraine probably didn't expect to get this far. They put a thousand soldiers in, probably 20 tanks, and then found they were rolling in almost unopposed and they've capitalised on that."

Ukraine also has two options: try to hold on to parts of Kursk and risk being defeated there, or eventually withdraw, leaving Putin guessing which part of Russia's longer border will be hit next and forcing him to reinforce it, thereby easing pressure on the frontline, Bell explained.

"It seems to be an absolute masterstroke," said the analyst.

"Momentum, initiative, is everything on the frontline and they've seized that. They've shown that Russia isn't in control of everything on their front foot. And just imagine the effect on morale of the troops on the frontline."

However it's important to note that Kyiv has seized just 0.003% of Russian territory, compared to the 20% of Ukraine controlled by Moscow, he added.

" Although people are talking about it being a bargaining chip in some sort of negotiation, I think that's really unlikely. Putin will not want to accept any form of negotiation around something like this. He is going to deal with it. He will deal with it ruthlessly. The question is when, and when does he ease pressure on the frontline?"

A Ukrainian presidential adviser has said the Kursk incursion was required to convince Moscow to start "fair" peace talks.

Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine had no interest in occupying Kursk but it had to force Russia to start talks on Kyiv's terms.

"We need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia," Mr Podolyak said.

"In the Kursk region, we clearly see how the military tool is objectively used to convince the Russian Federation to enter into a fair negotiation process."

Senior Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be fully respected in any peace agreement, while Vladimir Putin has demanded it give up a fifth of its territory and any aspirations to join NATO.

Former Russian president and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has also said Russia would continue to capture Ukrainian land after any truce.

The Ukrainian invasion of Kursk has turned the "narrative of the war on its head", says security and defence editor Deborah Haynes.

Kyiv will be hoping that its capture of land and Russian prisoners of war will put pressure on Vladimir Putin should the time come for peace talks, resulting in land swaps, she said.

But the "jury is still out" on the impacts of "this stunning move".

Haynes said Ukraine is "hoping to draw Russian forces from frontline positions inside Ukraine".

"While there is evidence of that happening to a degree, there's also evidence, at least from Russian claims, that their troops in, for example, the east of Ukraine, are managing to gain ground."

What's the latest from inside Kursk?

"It looks as though they [Ukraine] are trying to sever the various routes into Kursk region," said Haynes.

Just as they destroyed bridges and roads in their own territory at the beginning of the war, Ukrainian forces are destroying Russian infrastructure to stop supplies reaching Moscow's soldiers in Kursk.

It is the same the military tactics that proved successful in pushing Russian forces out of northern Ukraine, said Haynes.

Back across the border from Kursk, Russia has launched attacks on the Sumy region this morning.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched an Iskander-K missile attack and a KAB bomb airstrike against Sumy city.

Local authorities reported two civilians were injured, bringing the total wounded in Ukraine over the past day to 10.

Another three civilians have been killed in the same attacks: two in the Donetsk region and one in Kharkiv.

A child was among six people injured in an attack on the Kherson region.

In another update this morning, Ukraine's air force said its defences shot down 14 Russian drones fired in an overnight attack over six Ukrainian regions in the south and centre of the country.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has heralded the achievements of his forces in the Russian Kursk area.

He encouraged his troops to inflict "maximum damage on all Russian positions" as they attempt to destroy army logistics.

"We see that the occupier is suffering losses, and this is helpful, very helpful for our defence," he said in a video address.

"It is about destroying the logistics of the Russian army and draining their reserves.

"We must inflict maximum damage on all Russian positions, and we are doing that.

"I thank each of our warriors for their precision, I thank them for strength and for resilience."

Russia's foreign ministry claims Ukraine used Western rockets to destroy a bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was the first time the region had been hit by "Western-made rocket launchers".

The launcher in question was "probably American HIMARS", she said.

"As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed."

Sky News cannot independently verify this account.

Russian authorities are attempting to evacuate around 20,000 civilians from the region in the wake of Kyiv's cross-border incursion on 6 August.

The bridge links areas of Kursk that are still controlled by Russia and areas in which Ukraine has made advances.

Kyiv says its incursion is intended to protect Ukrainian lives by preventing cross-border attacks and diverting Russian reinforcements.

Russia regularly fires rockets, missiles and drones into Ukraine from its border regions.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, fighting continued in Russia's Kursk region as Ukrainian troops pushed on with their invasion.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces had advanced up to 3km (1.8 miles) in the area, and they were "strengthening" their positions.

The day also saw a key bridge over the River Seym in Kursk destroyed in a Ukrainian attack, Russian state media reported.

Ukraine's air force commander Mykola Oleschuk appeared to confirm the strike, sharing footage of the moment the bridge was hit.

In a post on Telegram, he said pilots had struck "enemy strongholds" and supply routes in the region.

Along the eastern frontline in Ukraine, Russian troops continued to push forward in the Donetsk region, with Moscow's defence ministry claiming its forces had taken control of the village of Serhiivka.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities ordered the rapid evacuation of the nearby city of Pokrovsk.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates throughout the day...

That's all our live coverage on the war in Ukraine for now.

We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here's a reminder of today's key events:

An ally of Vladimir Putin - parliamentary deputy Mikail Sheremet - warned that Ukraine's invasion of Kursk had put the world "on the brink of a third world war";
An anti-Putin group of Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine urged Russian soldiers in Kursk to surrender and fight with Kyiv's army;
Russian forces took control of the village of Serhiivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, according to the Russian defence ministry;
A bridge over the River Seym in Kursk was destroyed in a Ukrainian attack, Russian state media reported, citing security officials;
Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleschuk later shared a clip showing the moment a bridge in Kursk was hit, saying Ukrainian pilots had struck "enemy strongholds" and supply routes in the region.

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Ethiopia Population 2024 (Live)

Ethiopia ’s current population is about 115 million and is expected to surpass 200 million by the end of 2049. Ethiopia’s population is growing about 2.7% annually with no projected peak year or period of decline.

The birth rate in Ethiopia is 36 births per 1,000 people. The fertility rate is 4.1 births per woman. Religion plays a major role in Ethiopia’s high birth rate, as well as the lack of contraceptives.

The disproportionate population increase has hindered the economy’s ability to grow and develop at a more rapid pace due to the increased need for more resources. Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world due to its rapid population upsurge.

Ethiopia Population Growth

Ethiopia is a nation that has been beset by hunger and poverty for most of its long history. A land where child starvation and subsequent death have been prevalent for such a long time requires assistance from the more privileged and prosperous nations of the world. It is the responsibility of all members of the peaceful international community to step in with more rigor and determination to empower the Ethiopians. This population has proven to be one of the strongest on the face of the earth, having endured massive hardships. If it is given a little assistance, Ethiopia will be able to build on the strength of its inhabitants in order to increase the strength of the nation itself.

Ethiopia Population Projections

Ethiopia is currently one of the fastest growing countries in the world, with a growth rate of 3.02% per year. If Ethiopia follows its current rate of growth, its population will double in the next 30 years, hitting 210 million by 2060. Most of the world's population growth in the next 40-50 years is expected to come from Africa , and Ethiopia will be a large part of the growth.

Ethiopia Growth Rate

Ethiopia population clock.

Ethiopia	132,498,496
Last UN Estimate (July 1, 2024)	132,059,767
Births per Day	11,378
Deaths per Day	2,126
Migrations per Day	82
Net Change per Day	9,335
Population Change Since Jan. 1	2,137,715

Net increase of 1 person every 9 seconds

Population estimates based on interpolation of data from World Population Prospects

Components of Population Change

One
One
One
Net gain of one person every

Ethiopia Population Density Map


Addis Ababa	2,757,729
Dire Dawa	252,279
Mek'ele	215,546
Nazret	213,995
Bahir Dar	168,899
Gondar	153,914
Dese	136,056
Hawassa	133,097
Jimma	128,306
Bishoftu	104,215

Ethiopia Area and Population Density

The surface area in Ethiopia is currently at 1,104,300 km² (or 426,372.6137 miles square). Ethiopia has a population density of 83 people per square mile (214/square mile), which ranks 123rd in the world.

Largest Cities in Ethiopia

The largest city and capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa , or Addis Abeba, which has an estimated population of 3.6 million in the city proper and a metro population of more than 4.6 million. Being as old as two millenniums, its cultures and traditions hold family as a significant part of Ethiopian life, sometimes even surpassing the significance their careers or businesses might have.

Other major cities include Adama (324,000), Gondar (324,000), Mek'ele (324,000), and Hawassa (302,000).

Download Table Data

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2024	132,059,767	2.67%	132	10	91
2023	128,691,692	2.7%	129	11	92
2020	118,917,671	2.75%	119	12	95
2019	115,737,383	2.73%	116	12	95
2018	112,664,152	2.73%	113	12	97
2017	109,666,481	2.76%	110	12	98
2015	103,867,135	2.79%	104	13	104
2010	90,538,514	2.93%	91	13	109
2005	78,367,470	3.06%	78	16	117
2000	67,411,494	3.22%	67	16	121
1995	57,537,335	3.86%	58	21	131
1990	47,609,755	3.63%	48	23	136
1985	39,842,136	2.96%	40	24	139
1980	34,428,514	1.65%	34	26	142
1975	31,723,252	2.65%	32	26	138
1970	27,829,128	2.74%	28	26	137
1965	24,310,612	2.61%	24	26	139
1960	21,376,693	1.94%	21	27	138
1955	19,419,770	1.91%	19	26	138

Ethiopia Population by Year (Historical)


2024	132,059,767	2.67%	132	10	91
2025	135,472,051	2.64%	135	10	92
2030	152,855,357	2.44%	153	9	85
2035	170,532,954	2.21%	171	9	80
2040	188,450,902	2.02%	188	9	76
2045	206,673,639	1.86%	207	9	74
2050	225,021,875	1.72%	225	7	69
2055	243,110,908	1.56%	243	7	64
2060	260,708,340	1.41%	261	8	59
2065	277,696,131	1.27%	278	8	55
2070	293,790,938	1.13%	294	8	54
2075	309,057,820	1.02%	309	8	51
2080	323,238,508	0.9%	323	7	49
2085	336,129,183	0.78%	336	7	47
2090	347,651,463	0.68%	348	7	45
2095	357,996,250	0.59%	358	7	43

Ethiopia Population by Year (Projections)

Ethiopia population pyramid 2024, ethiopia median age, ethiopia population by age.

There are people over age 18 in Ethiopia .

Census Years


2017	November 2017
2007	7 June 2007
1994	11 October 1994

Ethiopia Population Pyramid

With one of the highest poverty levels in the world, Ethiopia is considered by many to be one of the most under-developed nations in the world. But within its African boundaries lies a nation filled with a rich culture and heritage. Bordered by Kenya , South Sudan , Sudan , Djibouti , Eritrea , and Somalia .

Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the continent of Africa and the second-most populous country of Africa after Nigeria . This estimate of how many people live in Ethiopia is based on the most recent United Nations projections, and makes Ethiopia the 14th most populous country in the world. The most recent census in 2007 found an official population of 73.7 million.

Ethiopia Demographics

Ethiopia is home to various ethnicities, predominantly the Oromo at 34.4% of the country's population and the Amhara, who account for 27% of the population. Other major ethnic groups include the Somali (6.2%), Tigray (6.1%), Sidama (4%), Gurage (2.5%), Welayta (2.3%), Afar (1.7%), Hadiya (1.7%), and Gamo (1.5%).

In 2009, Ethiopia had an estimated 135,000 asylum seekers and refugees, mostly from Somalia (64,000), Eritrea (42,000) and Sudan (23,000). The government requires refugees to live in designated refugee camps. According to a 2013 report, the number of refugees hosted by Ethiopia has grown to 680,000.

Ethiopia Religion, Economy and Politics

Ethiopia has close ties with all three major Abrahamic religions, and it was the first in the region to officially adopt Christianity in the 4th century. Christians account for 63% of the country's population, with 44% belonging to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Ethiopia has the first Hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement on the continent. Muslims account for 34% of the population.

Despite its wealth in culture, Ethiopia, unfortunately, does not suffer the same fate economically. With a significantly agriculture-based economy, it is not surprising that in today's technologically thriving world, Ethiopia has one of the lowest incomes per capita. Its reliance on domestic investment restricts foreign investment, which could otherwise account for a comparatively successful economy. However, improvement in agricultural practices has shown a decrease in the level of starvation that the country had been previously accustomed to. The GDP is also increasing, showing a 7% increase in 2014. The composition of the labor force is almost 40%, accounting for another step toward progress. However, only if the conditions of the average Ethiopian get better will the country be able to witness a better tomorrow.

The median age in Ethiopia is approximately 17.9 years of age. 60% of the population in Ethiopia is under the age of 25.

In terms of access to clean drinking water and sanitation, the numbers are still quite grim in this country. According to the World Factbook, only 57% of the country has improved access to clean drinking water, while 42% still struggle to find clean water. Only 28% of the population has access to improved sanitation services, while 72% struggle to maintain sanitation. This likely contributes greatly to the very high degree of risk with transmittable diseases and illnesses in the area.

Only 49% of the population over 15 years of age is literate and many children only attend school for 8 or 9 years.

Ethiopia Population History

The conditions of poverty entail deterioration in health for many of Ethiopia's inhabitants. The most common diseases that cause mortality among many Ethiopians are AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and various communicable diseases that occur due to improper sanitation and malnutrition. Most women give birth to children outside of the vicinity of hospitals. Often the mothers are only attended to by an elderly midwife. The mortality rate of mothers while giving birth is high. Various organizations, governmental and non-governmental, seek to improve the deplorable health conditions in Ethiopia. The World Health Organization is working to initiate a healthy Ethiopia. Low literacy levels also support the inferior health conditions. Therefore, it is important to provide the Ethiopians with adequate knowledge regarding common diseases and their appropriate medication and cure. The empowerment of women could also help achieve improvements in the circumstances pertaining to the well-being of Ethiopians.

National Bank of Ethiopia
World Population Prospects (2024 Revision) - United Nations population estimates and projections.

IMAGES

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A Million Miles Away (2023)

COMMENTS

A Million Miles Away movie review (2023)
A Million Miles Away. "A Million Miles Away" is an inspiring movie based on an inspiring story told in an inspiring way. It's a tale of literally astronomical success in the face of daunting adversity, and it's important as a reflection of hard-won representation. But in depicting the life of a man who risked everything to pursue his ...
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Sep 14, 2023 Full Review Pallavi Keswani The Hindu The emphasis on the role of José Hernández's family and community makes A Million Miles Away a compelling, feel-good watch.
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In this biopic, a boy from a family of migrant farm workers watches the moon landing in 1969, which ignites his desire to be an astronaut. Michael Peña, right, who plays the astronaut José ...
A Million Miles Away Movie Review
A Million Miles Away is a great family movie with messages of determination and perseverance! My kids ages 9, 12, and 16 all enjoyed it. It has a few bad words, but other than that, it is appropriate for ages 9 and above. It is inspiring and you will all be cheering for Jose Hernandez!
A Million Miles Away
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Oct 3, 2023. Laura Hiros Rincón de cine. Co-written and directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella, A Million Miles Away is an excellent choice to enjoy with ...
Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away' charms and inspires with the tale
In many ways, the movie is an outsized twin to another biopic this year — "Flamin' Hot," the story of how a struggling but tenacious Mexican American janitor came up with the hit snack Flamin' Hot Cheetos. "A Million Miles Away" even has a scene with a bowl of Doritos.
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Based on Hernández's 2012 autobiography, the movie "A Million Miles Away," made by a Latina director from a screenplay credited to three Latin writers (one of them the director herself) is ...
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A Million Miles Away is a biographical drama film that chronicles the remarkable life journey of José M. Hernández, the first Mexican-American astronaut. Starring Michael Peña as José Hernández, Garret Dillahunt as Frederick W. Sturckow, and Rosa Salazar as Adela Hernández, the film weaves together a poignant narrative of ambition, determination, and the immigrant experience.
A Million Miles Away
Sep 8, 2023. A Million Miles Away is an inspiring movie based on an inspiring story told in an inspiring way. It's a tale of literally astronomical success in the face of daunting adversity, and it's important as a reflection of hard-won representation. Read More. By Christy Lemire FULL REVIEW.
A Million Miles Away Review
3.5. Summary. From working the fields to flying into space - the remarkable and inspiring true story of José M. Hernandez is the feel-good family film of the year. A boy from a family of migrant farm workers watches the moon landing in 1969 and then dreams of becoming an astronaut. A Million Miles Away is the story depicting the life of a ...
A Million Miles Away
A Million Miles Away is a great story with not just one inspirational message, but a crockpot full of them. ... Movie Review. Perhaps when Jose Hernandez first started looking up at the summer stars, he simply felt relief. ... In this movie, we learn that astronauts, when they go up into space, don't go alone. They bring everyone who believed ...
Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away'
Hernández' drive and grit pulse through the movie, and it certainly finds some fun ways to bring the story to life. And for anyone who might think, 'well, an inspirational biopic of a real ...
A Million Miles Away (2023)
A Million Miles Away: Directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella. With Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Veronica Falcón. A biopic about Jose Hernandez and his path from a farm worker to becoming an engineer and an astronaut. A tale of perseverance, community and sacrifice to accomplish a seemingly impossible dream.
Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away' charms and inspires with the tale
"A Million Miles Away," an Amazon Prime Video release, is rated PG for "thematic elements and language." Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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A family movie about a family, "A Million Miles Away" stars Michael Peña as the adult José, a self-effacing, gifted engineer working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San ...
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A Million Miles Away seeks to deliver an inspirational tale of the American dream, but sometimes falls short of digging deeper into why José's dream necessitated a group effort to surmount ...
A Million Miles Away (2023)
A Million Miles Away is worth watching as it does have some important messages, although they aren't delivered in a compelling way. It took me three nights to watch it. Everything about this movie is bland: acting, storyline, dialogue, themes, pacing. Sad to say nothing hits hard emotionally or intellectually.
A Million Miles Away Review: An Inspirational True Story That Doesn't
A Million Miles Away is a heartfelt biopic that showcases José Hernández's perseverance and the toll his dreams of becoming an astronaut take on his family. While the film lacks depth in exploring José's inner life and relationships, Michael Peña's performance and Rosa Salazar's portrayal of Adela elevate the emotional impact of the story.
A Million Miles Away (2023)
Told in comforting, family-friendly fashion, A Million Miles Away is a moving, inspiring biopic about José Hernandez, a migrant farmworker who at one point was rejected by NASA eleven times ...
Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away' charms and inspires with ...
Movie Review: 'A Million Miles Away' charms and inspires with the tale of an unlikely astronaut MARK KENNEDY Updated September 13, 2023 at 3:39 PM · 4 min read
'A Million Miles Away' Movie Amazon Prime Video Review ...
BOATS movie alert: A Million Miles Away ( now streaming on Amazon Prime Video) is the Based On A True Story story of Jose Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant and son of migrant farmers who dreamed of ...
A Million Miles Away (film)
A Million Miles Away is a 2023 American biographical drama film detailing the life of José M. Hernández, a Mexican-American astronaut, who is played by Michael Peña. ... On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 54 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.
Review: 'A Million Miles Away' never takes off despite ...
Unfortunately, despite its ready-made storyline and some likable performances, the curiously inert "A Million Miles Away" never achieves liftoff, even as its hero does. Hernández spent half his childhood in Mexico and half in San Joaquin County, where he was born and where he and his family worked on farms. José, played as a boy by Juan ...
Is 'A Million Miles Away' Based on a True Story?
The film A Million Miles Away tells the inspiring true story of José Moreno Hernández, a son of migrant workers who becomes a NASA astronaut.; Michael Peña delivers a diverse and compelling ...
Michael Peña Dares to Dream in A Million Miles Away Trailer
Prime Video has released a trailer and first look images for its upcoming A Million Miles Away, an inspiring biopic that tells the tale of José Hernández, a farmworker turned NASA astronaut.The ...
What time will A Million Miles Away air on Prime Video? Release ...
Amazon Prime Video's highly anticipated new drama movie, A Million Miles Away, is all set to premiere on the streaming platform on Friday, September 15, 2023, at 12 am GMT (tentative time).
Dinner & Movies in the Park: A MILLION MILES AWAY
Bring your whole family, chairs, a big warm blanket, and get ready to enjoy an exciting family-friendly movie on the big screen under the stars! The Suisun Recreation, Parks, & Marina Department presents Movies in the Park, featuring the movie "A Million Miles Away" on Friday, August 16, 2024. The movie begins at dusk (approximately 8:20 pm). Free admission!
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Ethiopia has a population density of 83 people per square mile (214/square mile), which ranks 123rd in the world. Largest Cities in Ethiopia. The largest city and capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, or Addis Abeba, which has an estimated population of 3.6 million in the city proper and a metro population of more than 4.6 million. Being as old ...
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A Million Miles Away

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