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On March 1st, Netflix’s Spaceman was released, starring Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayar, Isabella Rossellini, and Paul Dano. It is directed by, Johan Renck. This film follows the protagonist, Jakub Prochazka (Sandler) who is an astronaut sent to space on a mission. He then meets a creature that helps him figure out problems back on earth while he’s in space.
In the film, there are a lot of times that are reflected on Jakub’s life, back on earth with his wife. It seems to show happy times, but also some troubling times. What is revealed is that Lenka (Mulligan) is pregnant with their child. Lenka struggles with not having Jakub on earth, and many times throughout the film worried about Jakub’s mental health. It explores Jakub’s mental state a lot, as demonstrated in the times he immediately panics, or wants the ship to be disinfected.
Jakub also communicates with the space base, talking to Peter (Nayvar) to send messages back and forth from his wife. After that encounter he meets the very wise spider, named Hanus (voiced by Dano). He helps Jakub reflect on his past, and open up his consciousness about the things that happened on his time on earth. It seems that Jakub has “seen the light” at the end of Hanus talking to him. It seems that Hanus also gives Jakub balance throughout the film.
What I liked about the film is that there are moments where Adam Sandler takes his time with pauses throughout the film. Viewers can see the unraveling of Jakub’s mental health in those moments, especially when he engages with the spider. Hanus was wise in his words, and also tried to comfort Jakub during those times of distress. Carey Mulligan also gave a compelling performance as Lenka, trying to come to terms of having her husband away from her. It seemed like a lifetime where they needed to talk and fix the problems in their relationship.
This movie was interesting, but the pace was also slow at times. A lot of the things revealed in the film came as a slow burner. The music behind the different scenes also made the movie come to life a bit. But by the end of it, I did not like how everything turned out. This movie has a lot of themes about mental health, relationship issues, isolation and the sense of family.
I give this film a 6.5/10.
