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Watching Movies Matthew McConaughey Plays A Father, A Ghost, And An Astronaut Wearing A Hamilton Pilot's Watch In 'Interstellar'

And Jessica Chastain wears the Murph in our special Father's Day watch-related movie of the week.


Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future.

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Christopher Nolan's 2014 hit sci-fi film, Interstellar, was something of a phenomenon when it hit theaters. Nolan had effectively promoted this film for an entire year, releasing an emotionally driven teaser powered by the Hans Zimmer score (which was penned before a single frame of the film was shot).

Interstellar

Poster for Interstellar from its 2014 release

When we all saw it, one thing became clear: This was a watch movie with a capital W. Watches were the through-line to the movie's entire plot, they were key to its emotional backbone, and they were showcased on-camera often. Interstellar is now a known horological quantity, and the "Murph" watch (the Hamilton specially made for the film) is a cult classic. But in today's edition of Watching Movies, we're not going to focus our full attention on the Murph, but rather on a certain regular-production, Hamilton watch that McConaughey's Cooper wears prominently in the film.


Why We're Watching

When it came time to think of an appropriate watch-centric film to feature this Father's Day weekend, I have to be honest, Interstellar just kept coming to the front of the line. It's such a powerful film about fatherhood and the choices that fathers make. But more than that, it's a full-throttle expression of the power of watches as more than instruments of timekeeping. They are keepers of memories, symbolic placeholders for those we love. In this film, that idea is played out in full, through the relationship between Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and his daughter Murph – illustrated through two Hamilton watches.

Interstellar

Matthew McConaughey's Cooper wears his Hamilton while hugging his daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) in Interstellar. Image, Paramount

The plot is fairly straightforward. Earth is running low on resources – namely food. In a dystopian future, NASA has become something of a secret unit focused on locating life on other planets and dispatching pilots and astronauts on missions to find them … missions they may never return from. Cooper, an ex-pilot, stumbles upon NASA's headquarters through a series of magical anomalies in his home discovered by his daughter, Murph. She thinks a ghost is talking to her, and Cooper thinks it's gravity. Turns out it's a bit of both. Cooper is asked to pilot a mission into a black hole to another galaxy where a selection of potentially viable new planets awaits. The only issue is he may never see his family for many decades or ever again, or at least not for many decades due to time displacement from the black hole (science stuff). Before he leaves, he makes sure to give one of his two watches to his daughter Murph, and the other he takes with him. From that point, we watch him embark on his mission through space and witness as Murph grows into a NASA scientist herself. Cooper and Murph become responsible for saving the people of Earth – and their watches play a big part in it.

The watch Cooper gives Murph is one that has been covered quite a bit here on HODINKEE. It was a Hamilton, custom-made for the film and not available in the Hamilton catalog until five years later due to high fan demand. It's a Hamilton Khaki with a certain vintage aesthetic via patinated numerals and cathedral-style hands. It's a no-date model that comes affixed to a leather strap. In the film, this watch helps Murph solve the equation for gravity necessary to depart Earth for new livable planets.

Murph

The "Murph" watch production model, based on the watch made for the film.

But to only focus on the Murph is to forget about Cooper's watch. Sure, it's not as sexy, just a normal watch in the Hamilton catalog, but it's no less cool. He wears the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day-Date Automatic – a real whopper of a watch. It's 42mm in diameter but wears much larger due to the almost non-existent bezel. It has a Flieger-like design via the applied numerals and features a day and date complication. The watch comes on a comfortable steel bracelet with an easy twin-trigger deployant clasp. The watch serves its purpose as a pilot's watch due to its superb legibility.

Hamilton

A similar Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day-Date to the watch worn by Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar.

I saw the movie three times and could not take my eyes off Coop's wrist. Then one day I was walking down the street when I saw one in a shop window of a small watch store. I bought it as a birthday present for myself and wore it often for about five years. When I first got to HODINKEE, I made it my mission to learn more about the decisions behind the watch in this film. I spoke to the prop master and the production designer and was able to report on it here. It was my first movie-centric article and was instrumental in my development of the Watching Movies column.

The Pilot Day-Date is just as important as the Murph because it's the watch Cooper takes with him on a journey away from home. Sure, Murph stays behind and only has this watch to remember her father by, but Cooper no doubt looks at his watch while in deep space and remembers home – remembers his kids, reminds himself he's a father. As someone who associates my dad with the watches he wears, I really connect with the underlying horological angle in this film. I just think Nolan and team nailed the emotional importance watches can have in our lives.

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When We're Watching

This is the most famous watch scene in the film, but shortly before Cooper explains to Murph just how long he'll be gone, he removes his watch and pulls another out of the pocket of his Carhartt jacket – the Murph watch. He holds them both in his hands, and as he does, the camera focuses on a close-up of them [00:39:24]. 

He goes on to explain to his daughter how she can look at her watch to remember him and how time will move more slowly for him where he's going. He then says that when he returns, they might even be the same age. This immediately triggers an emotional response from Murph as she doesn't realize her father will be gone for so long. She then throws the watch on the floor and begins to cry. This is how Cooper leaves her, but they will meet again … through the power of time, the power of watches.

Hamiltons

Image, Paramount

Later in the film, after Cooper's mission has successfully launched and he and his crew make their way through the black hole, they have a group meeting to discuss next steps. They're discussing which planet they should land on based on communications they've received from past missions. As the group talks things over, we see Cooper sitting in a hunched-over position [01:02:06], with the watch in his hands. He's just sitting, winding the crown. I'd like to think, at this moment, so far away from his kids, that he's playing with this watch to remind himself of home.

Cooper

Image, Paramount

Interstellar (starring Matthew McConaughey) is directed by Christopher Nolan with props by Richie Kremer. It is available to stream on Paramount + and to rent or buy on iTunes and Amazon.

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HODINKEE is an authorized retailer of Hamilton watches.  Explore our full collection, here. For more information about Hamilton watches, visit their website.