Adam Sandler takes a turn as a serious and sad astronaut in this film that feels like the offspring of Project Hail Mary and Solaris.
Despite that hooky opener you just read, Spaceman, the latest Netflix sci-fi venture, is based not on Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary (which also features a lonely astronaut befriending a kind space arachnid) but on Czech author Jaroslav Kalfař's 2017 Spaceman of Bohemia.
The film follows Jakub, an astronaut on a solitary mission to study a remote space cloud. It's unclear when the movie takes place, though based on the technology, it seems like an alternate future where despite deep space missions, all-white sterile nanotechnology and shiny flat screens never emerge. The spaceship is full of chunky manual buttons, rotating switches, and heavy machinery, all in the nondescript, waiting-room beige, mint green, and burnt ochre colors of the 1970s.
This design decision makes sense when you learn that the director, Johan Renck, was also responsible for the muted greens and blues of Soviet-era Russia in HBO's Chernobyl.
Jakub, alone and lonely in the vastness of space, senses something is wrong with his relationship with his wife. Indeed, she records a Dear John letter down on Earth hoping to end things, but the space agency doesn't let it go through. Instead, he hears absolutely nothing from her for days on end, and like any of us who get ghosted, starts to slowly unravel mentally.
Following in the hallowed footsteps of other Men Who Are Sad About Things In Space, Jakub wallows. And wallows. (See also: Interstellar, Ad Astra, Solaris).
And then, enter Hanuš — a sentient spider being who happened to be passing by. Drawn, he states, by Jakub's loneliness. Hanuš's presence is incredibly soothing, voiced with effortless aplomb by Paul Dano. His epithet for Jakub is "skinny human," and it's like a mantra.
Hanuš is interested in his human friend's emotional turmoil, and the middle chunk of the film is essentially a psychoanalysis session. The spider can replay memories like a movie, probing deeper regardless of Jakub's protestations and unwillingness to revisit scenes from his life with Lenka, played by Carey Mulligan (She's made a career out of nailing the unhappy wife character longing for a different life).
The question one faces while watching is: Is this real? Or is Hanuš a vehicle for Jakub to work out his emotions? I'd like to think that it's real. But that's what makes it fun, seeing him veer off into near insanity with his space spider therapist.
Speaking of Solaris, you can't watch Spaceman without acknowledging its influence. It's like trying to listen to The Strokes or Interpol without hearing the Velvet Underground underneath everything. From the achingly sparse world and glacial pace to the Soviet-inspired production, Spaceman cribs a lot from Solaris, Andrei Tarkovsky's epic about space, memories, and whether you can really know someone.
At the end of the day, Spaceman didn't do much that hasn't been done before, but I found the performances moving — including Adam Sandler's! However, I will admit that every 15 minutes or so, he'd float by in zero-G in basketball shorts and I'd think "Oh weird, it's Adam Sandler being serious in space". My favorite Letterboxed reviews just consisted of one word: Intersandlar.
I like a slow and thoughtful space movie, though. Gattaca is one of my all-time favorites. Spaceman is worth a watch if you want to be space emo for a little bit. It does the soul good.
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The Math
Baseline Score: 7/10
Bonuses: The retrofuturistic Soviet-era production design is gorgeous; Isabella Rossellini as a military space commander is perfection and a wonderful surprise.
Penalties: Some folks will not be able to handle an Adam Sandler non-comedic portrayal. Also, the ending is sentimental and rushed.
POSTED BY: Haley Zapal, new NoaF contributor and lawyer-turned-copywriter living in Atlanta, Georgia. A co-host of Hugo Award-winning podcast Hugo, Girl!, she posts on Instagram as @cestlahaley. She loves nautical fiction, growing c
