How Showtime’s The Man Who Fell to Earth Compares to the Film

Ejiofor’s approach doesn’t mirror Bowie’s at all. It is an inspired contrast. Because we’ve seen who he becomes, he never actually appears frail. The audience never quite fears something will forever damage him, until he comes to understand emotional agony in a human sense. Newton was practically dissected alive, and the naturalness of Roeg’s simple cameras make it agonizingly real. Contemporary special effects are so improved, pain has become surreal. In the film, Newton is revealed to have a sexless body, at least as far as human anatomy goes. When Faraday enters a hotel room naked at one point in the series, Hatch commends him on his penis.

Bill Nighy plays an older version of Thomas Newton in the series. This contradicts the movie. In the final scene…