"Ad Astra" is more of a mix of borrowings and references to other motion pictures and creators, rather than an original authorial product of its own style. I have no idea if this director's approach is a good thing or not, and I wouldn't even think about it because it's a matter of personal interpretation. I can only say that I personally did not get irritated (especially very much), but I would understand the viewers who would label as plagiarism what in this case I tolerate as a curtsy. But again, this is a matter of personal feeling, approach to the themes of the film, that even in a momentary mood, if you will. However, let me first say a few words about the story that Gray wants to tell:
In the not too distant future, when commercial flights to the moon have become a daily routine and Mars has already hosted the long-winged human colony, Roy McBride is given a secret mission to fly to the planet Neptune, from where he must establish and eventually eliminates the causes of mysterious energy anomalies that threaten the lives of all human beings. The caveat here is that Roy, who is the son of the most successful and popular astronaut in history, Clifford McBride, who disappeared thirty years ago on his extraterrestrial life expedition, is informed by his superiors that his father it may be alive and possibly related to a series of deadly disasters for humanity.