Fresh off a career-best showcase this summer in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” Brad Pitt delivers another excellent performance in “Ad Astra,” a visually-stunning and challenging space adventure from director James Gray.

Pitt appears in nearly every frame of the movie, often by himself, as Roy McBride, an astronaut known for showing remarkable calm in even the most hectic situations.

Case in point - the movie opens in the near future with McBride working on a massive antenna above Earth’s atmosphere. A violent power surge from space sends the astronaut careening to the ground, and McBride talks through the near death experience as if he were running TV play-by-play for golf. It’s a dazzling and intense opening sequence that also establishes a baseline for the psychological journey McBride will take on his mission across the solar system.

The powers-that-be recruit McBride to make contact with his estranged father, a revered astronaut who left Earth decades earlier on a mission to prove the existence of other life in the universe. The power surges wreaking havoc on Earth have been traced back to Neptune, the last location the Senior McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) communicated from before his disappearance.

The mission puts Roy in some bizarre situations, from battling space pirates on the moon (really) to investigating a creepy abandoned ship outside Mars. The plot points may sound silly, but “Ad Astra” consistently maintains a realistic atmosphere. The topline visual effects help with that, especially when coupled with Gray’s masterful scene construction and editing.

Even with several tense moments, “Ad Astra” is often somber and contemplative, as Pitt’s frequent voiceover is used to unravel the emotional turmoil inside McBride. It’s an unusual choice, especially since most modern movies have largely abandoned the use of voiceover outside of prologue/epilogue territory. Ultimately, the voiceover serves to anchor the sprawling story and maintain focus on McBride as he spends long stretches of the movie in solitude.

Pitt is magnetic taking a “quiet” character to compelling depths. When McBride’s emotions occasionally surface (most notably in a scene where he records a message to his missing father), Pitt exudes humanity in a way that often gets lost in big-budget, sci-fi adventures. While “Ad Astra” has an entire solar system as its canvass, the movie’s story is told in close-ups on Pitt’s face inside that space helmet.

Budget-wise, “Ad Astra” is a considerable leap for director James Gray, who last made the excellent Marion Cotillard drama, “The Immigrant” in 2013, as well as the criminally-underseen Amazonian adventure film, “The Lost City of Z” in 2016. There may be more CGI elements, but Gray never loses focus on McBride’s psychological journey. Gray’s influences are also compelling, as “Ad Astra” evokes elements of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Alien” and “Apocalypse Now” without resorting to imitation.

“Ad Astra” won’t be for everyone. There’s no zip or bombastic pizazz like, say, a “Star Wars” movie. But it does offer beautiful images, thought-provoking storytelling and a captivating, Movie-Star performance from Pitt. It’s all everybody should demand from big-budget filmmaking, and yet don’t be surprised when it doesn’t turn a profit.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com. He is also the co-host of “Old Millennials Remember Movies,” available everywhere you find podcasts.