Spaceman (2024 film)

Spaceman is a 2024 American science fiction drama film directed by Johan Renck and written by Colby Day. It is based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař. Starring Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, and Paul Dano, it follows an astronaut sent on a mission to the edge of the solar system who encounters a creature that helps him resolve his earthly problems.

Spaceman premiered at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2024, and received a limited theatrical release on February 23, 2024 before its streaming debut by Netflix on March 1, 2024.

Plot
Czech astronaut Jakub Procházka is six months into a space mission to investigate a mysterious cloud of dust and particles, called Chopra, lying beyond Jupiter. The Czech mission has arrived shortly before a competing South Korean mission. Jakub struggles with loneliness and misses his wife, Lenka, who has recently stopped talking with him after he left her and their unborn daughter behind to go on the mission.

Lenka sends him a message telling him that she wants to leave him, but Commissioner Tuma, Jakub's commanding officer, prevents it from reaching him, to prevent Jakub's mental state from worsening. Days later, still without news from Lenka, Jakub finds a spider-like creature with telepathic abilities inside a compartment of the ship. The creature, whom Jakub names Hanuš, wishes to understand humans better and to help Jakub with his loneliness.

Exploring his memories, Hanuš learns more about Jakub: his father was an informant of the state party and was killed when Jakub was young. He met Lenka, but often neglected her, being more focused on his career as a cosmonaut, going as far as leaving her when she suffered a miscarriage. After showing Jakub an implanted memory of the miscarriage, which Jakub was not present for, Hanuš, disappointed with humanity, leaves the ship, leaving Jakub distressed.

Jakub arranges with Peter, a technician and good friend of his, to deliver a message to Lenka, asking for forgiveness for his neglect. Hanuš returns after this, revealing that he's dying due to a parasitic infection that wiped out his entire species.

The two finally arrive at the Chopra cloud, which is revealed to be a leftover of the beginning of the universe and where every moment of time exists simultaneously. Hanuš leaves to die in space, but Jakub goes after him. Within the cloud, Jakub comes to the conclusion that he wishes only to be with his wife. She appears to him in a forest scene as a rusalka. Hanuš passes away due to the infection.

Jakub is rescued by the South Korean space vessel. Jakub and Lenka talk again, coming to terms with their relationship.

Production
In October 2020, Netflix announced that the novel Spaceman of Bohemia would be adapted by screenwriter Colby Day into a feature film of the same name directed by Johan Renck and starring Adam Sandler. In April 2021, Carey Mulligan was added to the cast, and the film was retitled Spaceman. On April 19, 2021 it was announced that Paul Dano and Kunal Nayyar joined the cast.

Principal photography began on April 19, 2021, in New York City, and wrapped on July 1, 2021, in the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, filming took place in Prague and surrounding areas of the country's Central Bohemian Region.

Max Richter composed the soundtrack. On February 22, 2024, the track Don’t Go Away, a collaboration between Richter and the American band Sparks, which features in the film, was released to streaming services.

Release
Spaceman had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in the Berlinale Special section on February 20, 2024.

The film was released on March 1, 2024, its originally planned release date in 2023 being delayed due to the impact of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Reception
In a positive review for RogerEbert.com, Robert Daniels praised Sandler's performance, writing, "I just love Sandler in this register. It’s no longer a surprise when he pulls a well-defined and memorable dramatic performance." In a mixed review for IGN, Siddhant Adlakha wrote: Its visual artistry—which goes to great lengths to establish mood, and uneasy emotional equilibriumis swiftly laid low by its dependence on the literal, nullifying whatever abstractions its sci-fi premise might come to briefly represent.