Abstract
Isolation and loneliness as represented in Ridley Scott’s The Martian (2015) and Claire Denis’s High Life (2018), may seem closer to purity than corruption. The films plots (the survival of a stranded astronaut and the coexistence of inmates aboard a drifting spaceship) give way to the display of unmapped, near-deserted places, leading to the conclusion of a necessary reinvention.However, this initial state shall not be considered permanent, for corruption is a process of transformation and alteration, impacting the bodies of the protagonists from both films – this is mostly due to the incompatibility between the travelers and outer space. This alteration also impacts the mise-en-scène, since the estrangement from Earth leads to a visual hybridization, questioning the very possibility of a pure image.This article attempts to address the corruption of bodies and images, exploring the link between the apparent purity of outer space and the inevitable corruption pervading it.