‘First Man’ on HBO: Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong Biopic is Here in Time for the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11

Appropriately timed for the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission, HBO is airing the critically-acclaimed Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man, this Saturday night. From La La Land director Damien Chazelle, First Man stars Ryan Gosling as the famed astronaut who became the first-ever human being to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

The script, from Spotlight writer Josh Singer, opens in 1961. Armstrong, then a test pilot, experiences a mishap with a rocket and is forced to do an emergency landing in the Mojave Desert. We quickly learn that, though he is remembered for one of humankind’s greatest achievements, much of Armstrong’s life was plagued by tragedy. He is grounded after his two-year-old daughter develops a brain tumor, and, despite frantic efforts from Armstrong and his wife Janet (played by The Crown‘s Claire Foy, who was nominated for the Golden Globe for the role), she dies. Grief-stricken, Armstrong reinvests in his career, moves to Houston, and gets selected for a crew. But he loses more people still when his friends and fellow astronauts Elliot See (Patrick Fugit) and Ed White (Jason Clarke) are killed in separate accidents.

It’s a film that reminds us that there’s a personal story behind every headline, and it’s not always a happy one. Yet despite the big-name talent and reunion of Gosling and Chazelle following their critical darling, La La Land, the film didn’t get as much awards play as expected. Its four Oscar nominations were all technical, and it took home only the award for Best Visual Effects. At the box office, it made an underwhelming $16 million, compared to La La Land‘s $151 million. Perhaps the short-lived controversy surrounding the American flag had something to do with that—spawned by a misleading report that Chazelle left the flag out of the film, despite the fact that it was clearly visible in several shots—had something do with that. Or maybe the marketing from Universal Pictures is to blame, which made the film out to be an action-fueled historical drama rather than a personal, intimate biopic.

Then again, perhaps it was just a case of the wrong place, wrong time for First Man‘s theatrical release. Now that it’s streaming on HBO—and on the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, no less—we have a feeling this film will find its second life.

Where to stream First Man