How does one talk about the end of SOLARIS, Tarkovsky’s meditative study of love and loss, without giving it away? Tarkovsky wasn’t one for “twist endings,” but here he plays with expectations in order to deliver viewers with a true cinematic wallop in the form of a zoom out shot. Psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris to investigate strange occurrences among the crew. Once there, he is haunted by memories of his recently deceased wife Hari, who mysteriously appears on the station in physical form. As the boundaries between reality and illusion blur, Kelvin delves deeper into the mysteries of Solaris and his own past, culminating in a conclusion that underscores the film’s devastating exploration of memory and perception. Rarely has a zoom out shot held such significance; Kelvin has been on Solaris for some time, but it is only at SOLARIS’s conclusion that we really understand where he is.