'Spaceman' did what no cosmic horror movie could dare to do

by JERÓNIMO CASCO

MARCH 8, 2024, 21.34 PM | UTC-GMT -3

It's a fact: Adam Sandler when he has a great script and someone who directs it correctly in his hands can do extraordinary things. Typecast by many (and it is totally understandable) as a terrible comedian but still a box office hit like few others, the American actor occasionally embarks on projects that balance the balance of his unstable reputation.

He did it more than twenty years ago when a young Paul Thomas Anderson saw in him enough potential to make a romantic comedy that ended up resulting in the great 'Punch Drunk Love' (2002), the Safdie brothers saw him for the wild e hyperbolic 'Uncut Gems' (2019), and in 2024 the director of the five episodes of the acclaimed HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl' (2019) could see it for his intimate and existential space opera/romantic drama 'Spaceman', based on the novel 'Spaceman of Bohemia' by Czech writer Jaroslav Kalfar published in 2017.

What exists beyond what we see when we look at the sky? What awaits us beyond our knowledge? Many science fiction films have addressed these questions from different angles: Alien subjected us to witnessing space confinement with a being that has no other purpose than to annihilate the crew of the Nostromo one by one, Interstellar redefined the genre for us with its notion of time and Sunshine showed us the vitality of the solo like no other film, to name a few examples. This need to want to travel away from what surrounds us is explored in the second film by Swedish director Johan Renck. A minimalist drama and science fiction film that delves into themes such as loneliness, human relationships and self-destruction, as raised by (somewhat) similar films such as Ad Astra, Arrival or Annihilation.

Jakub is a Czech astronaut who, for the second time, travels to space in search of a purpose, leaving behind his pregnant wife Lenka. It is in this second exploration into the unknown where he feels that he is closer than ever to discovering what our origins are as a species. The repetitive act of not being able to face the entire maternal process with her is the true heart of the film, which despite having an ominous and even terrifyingly cosmic air at times, manages to create a metaphorical link between the protagonist and a space spider? something poetic and thoughtful.

Created by her own loneliness, Jakub encounters a mysterious and enormous spider (voiced by the great Paul Dano) on her ship just as she is about to reach Chopra, a cloud near Jupiter that can be seen from Earth and is the reason for his departure towards the infinities of space. The astronaut is initially terrified by the presence but we quickly understand that Hanus - that is the name that Jakub assigns him in honor of his father - is nothing more than the voice of his conscience, one that constantly rethinks why he makes decisions. that takes

Sandler executes his role with subtlety and effectiveness at the same time, making us understand that he is a damaged soul who found his own salvation in Lenka's love and now, five hundred million kilometers away from his salvation, he finds what could be his downfall. . Why does she do it? What motivates you? The actor's interpretive work gives us to understand that those same questions he asks himself are mirrored by the Hanus spider, and it is in this healing process where memories become present through distorted images. Is that how he remembers it or was it more toxic, or more pleasant?

But the true success of 'Spaceman' lies in its treatment of the unknown. Sure, the film is based on a novel with a very specific tone and story, but it still feels like it has its own voice. As if a pack of influences had overwhelmed the director, imbuing him with certain references and making him understand where his vision should be directed. At times it feels like a strange version of Tarkovsky's Solaris as it plays with the idea that space travel radically transforms people and turns them into something they either didn't want to be, or didn't expect to be.

The film, claustrophobic from the staging, ends up being a beautiful metaphor about the manipulation of memories, the concept of time as a regulator of emotions and loneliness as a necessary void to which we must all go from time to time. As for the spider? It's eerily pleasant.

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