Netflix’s presence at the Berlinale this year includes the Adam Sandler-led sci-fi adventure Spaceman. The touching space odyssey scores with a very special creature.
The sci-fi film goes in a variety of directions. Sometimes we are on Earth in the near future. Sometimes we delve into mysterious worlds on an alien planet. One of my favorite subcategories of the genre are the sad astronauts who negotiate their personal conflicts in the darkness of space. I’m thinking of Interstellar, Ad Astra and High Life, for example.
The next film in this genre celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale 2024: Spaceman: A Brief History of Bohemian Space Travel. This powerful space odyssey is coming to Netflix in a few days. What’s particularly exciting is that we get to see Adam Sandler as the sad astronaut, who tends to appear in comedies on the streaming service. It’s one of his most unusual and best roles yet
New sci-fi film from Netflix at the Berlinale: Adam Sandler experiences his own Interstellar in Spaceman
Spaceman is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Jaroslav Kalfař. The story tells the story of astronaut Jakub Procházka (Sandler), who has been on an important mission in space for 189 days. A mysterious cloud is worrying people on Earth. Jakub has to find out what the structure, which enchants the starry sky in purple colors, is all about.
Here you can watch the trailer for Spaceman:
Everything is going according to plan – at least that’s what the Czech space agency says as it bends over backwards to keep its sponsors and outrun the Korean competition. The truth is different: Jakub is completely out of his depth emotionally. The loneliness and cold of space are getting to him. He has left his heavily pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), behind on Earth.
Contact between the two is more than fragile. Jakub retreats deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine corridors of his spaceship, unable to articulate his inner turmoil to himself, let alone to others. The exhaustion is written all over Sandler’s astronaut’s face. Even at a Berlinale that began with Cillian Murphy’s tired eyes, the sadness that Sandler carries into the film is impressive.
Then comes the big scare: when Jakub looks into the pantry, he sees an alien creature in the form of a giant spider. Imagine Aragog from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The hairy creature with its long legs and big eyes is just as disgusting. However, there is no deep, menacing growl, but the gentle voice of Paul Dano – a delightful irritation.
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Spaceman triumphs as soon as Adam Sandler is treated by a giant alien spider in his spaceship
The nightmare creature, named Hanuš by Jakub, turns into an unexpectedly loving companion. This is not a matter of course. After all, Dano’s whispering can mean many things. Sometimes it belongs to a scary villain like the Riddler in The Batman, sometimes to a caring father figure in Spielberg’s The Fablemen. Adam Sandler is lucky. The Dano spider doesn’t want to get his collar
(Spaceman: A Brief History of Bohemian Space Travel)
Thanks to supernatural abilities, Hanuš can tap directly into Jakub’s feelings and memories. He creates a kind of bridge to Lenka and from then on acts as the thin man’s personal space therapist, as he calls Jakub. There is a tragic story behind Hanuš’s sudden appearance: the alien had to flee his home planet after an attack by a hostile species.
The relationship between Jakub and Hanuš is the heart of the film. Director Johan Renck (Chernobyl) observes in calm shots how the two cautiously approach each other and, more importantly, how the two glide weightlessly through the spaceship. Large parts of the film take place in confined spaces that are cloaked in a greenish-brownish light. Two very dissimilar bodies meet here.
On the one hand, there is Sandler’s familiar stature – a human being, very tangible. On the other hand, Hanuš’s CGI body is fascinating and increasingly abandons its disgusting character. Later, there is even an embrace between these extremely dissimilar figures, one of the most astonishing moments in the film. At this point at the latest, tears will flow. Hanuš is already one of the secret stars of the film year.
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Not as good as its role models, but still a worthy entry in the canon of sad astronaut films
The problem is that the more this relationship between Jakub and Hanuš blossoms, the more Lenka fades into the background, even though she should be an equally important part of it. This contradiction is never resolved. Carey Mulligan is once again trapped in the role of the suffering wife of a man who doesn’t see her. Or only recognizes her too late. What a waste, Sandler aptly sums up, lost in space
(Spaceman A Brief History of Bohemian Space Travel)
Renck feels better when he steers Jakub’s spaceship through coarse-grained space paintings. It penetrates deeper and deeper into the cloud at the edge of the human imagination before we are taken on one of those intoxicating journeys through light that have been a must in every film since 2001: A Space Odyssey. The images are carried by Max Richter’s thoughtful, almost meditative score.
You definitely have to get involved with the slow pace and the introspective thoughts. Renck has neither the power of Interstellar nor the elegance of Ad Astra. What he does capture really well, however, is the lost in thought, the brooding quality that also runs through seminal sci-fi stories like Solaris (both film adaptations!). Here Sandler can give Jakub’s sadness free rein.
500 million miles from Earth, no one in space can hear you cry. But if you’re lucky, you’ll meet the nastiest and most loving creature in the universe and bond with him over the comforting power of Czech Nutella. Yes, Spaceman definitely deserves a place in the canon of sad astronaut movies.
