by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
Six months into a solo mission to an interstellar cloud near Jupiter, Czech astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler) struggles with loneliness as his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), has stopped talking to him through video calls. One day, he discovers a giant spider on his ship, which he names Hanus (voiced Paul Dano). The spider has telepathic abilities and attempts to understand him better. Is Hanus real? What will he discover about Jakub’s past? Why won’t his wife speak to him anymore? What will happen when his ship reaches the cloud?
Spaceman is brought to you by director Johan Renck, who has previously worked on the critically acclaimed miniseries Chernobyl, and there is a similar vibe, attention, and atmosphere. The narrative has a slow-burn feel, as it focuses more on subtle character building and features a lot of ambiguity. It will undoubtedly be a significant turn-off for many people, as it takes a leisurely pace with the way things unfold, which will leave many viewers bored. It’s possible there is a deliberate feeling of monotony and isolation due to the theme of loneliness. But the main factor in how the whole experience will or won’t keep viewers interested lies in the communication between Jakub and Hanus.
Several times, we see memories of Jakub’s life Lenka. During these moments, there is a distortion to the image, suggesting the memory is being viewed through a different set of eyes, as Hanus better understands Jakub’s relationship with the women he has left behind. Sandler and Dano both have stoic lines delivered during these exchanges, which certainly adds to the slow pace of the narrative.
Another window into Jakub’s life back on Earth are scenes involving Lenka feeling abandoned by being left alone for so long and wishing to leave Jakub. The people in charge of the mission keep this information from him, making Lenka feel even more betrayed. These scenes are relatively compelling due to Mulligan’s performance, as she once again disappears into her role, and you almost forget you are watching a character. Her performance also made me wish she was in the movie more However, these scenes also contain a lot of pretentious dialogue that tries to be profound or thought-provoking, but doesn’t actually mean much. I usually appreciate scenes in a story that get you thinking about life differently, but here, it never really connected with me.
There’s some similar dialogue in scenes between Jakub and Hanus where the latter tries to understand humans better, referring to Jakub as”skinny human”and often questioning his actions. These sequences interested me for a while, as the two characters gradually better understand each other. There’s also the suggestion Hanus is a physical embodiment of Jakub’s internal monologue, fears, and memories, leading you to question if Hanus’ judgment might be Jakub’s self-hatred. However, after over 30 minutes of this, you start to wonder if there is anything more to these scenes than just a character questioning their self-worth.
The lesson Jakub learns towards the end seems relatively apparent from the beginning, and his admitting to mistakes because of it lacks subtlety. There have been a lot of comparisons to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Interstellar with this story. These comparisons certainly sum up this narrative’s shortcomings, because it attempts to do something similar to those stories, but not as well. The insight into the human mind is far more surface-level and less interesting visually, and the self-discovery isn’t nearly as satisfying. Interstellar is a far less tedious experience, despite being a full hour longer, because it breaks up its character scenes with action sequences, so it never feels too monotonous. In Spaceman, almost every scene is slow-paced character building that gets repetitive and lacks anything visually to keep you interested. Visuals of Jakub floating around in space with Hanus crawling around the walls of his ship are impressive and somewhat interesting for a time. But like the character-building sequences, it gets a bit tiring after a while.
The ending will be very polarizing, and that most closely resembles other stories like it, as it focuses almost entirely on symbolism and deep meanings, and not at all on anything that appears to be happening. It left me confused whether any of it was even meant to be authentic and, if it was, what its significance was.
Sandler impressed me with a far more controlled and stoic performance than you would expect, as he continues to show he can be a serious actor. Dano is also compelling in a voice role that helps you to warm to his character despite his off-putting appearance.
Overall, this space story fails to give you much reason to care about real-life issues the characters are dealing with or the life lessons it tries to teach. But without any particularly original message or ideas to present, the whole experience feels empty.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Spaceman is currently streaming on Netflix
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