Netflix’s Spaceman is Slow, Sad, Sci-fi with a Lovable Space Spider

Adam Sandler as Jakub in Spaceman- Credit: Netflix

New actors shouldn’t rush toward middle age. Nervous people should look to Adam Sandler for inspiration. Sandler became well-known for portraying kind-hearted, outcasts who find acceptance from their detractors. His hallmark bit, in which he foolishly strums a guitar while crooning an homage to Thanksgiving in a schoolboy voice, reflects his timid, underdog stand-up.

Maybe Sandler could keep that act going indefinitely. But his more serious roles in Hustle and The Meyerowitz Stories imply he’s aiming for more, perhaps yearning to change as he ages. He plays Jakub, a Czech astronaut on a mission thousands of miles from Earth and possibly even further from his pregnant wife, Carey Mulligan’s Lenka, in Netflix’s subtle science-fiction thriller Spaceman.

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It starts out well but falters in the end, but it’s satisfying to watch these actors fully commit to their characters’ strange, alienating world. Johan Renck directed the film, which is based on Jaroslav Kalfar’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia.

Jakub has spent six months in orbit investigating a four-year-old purple cloud. His space cabin isn’t luxurious; the toilet doesn’t work, and his favorite snack is Nutella from a jar. He hasn’t heard from Lenka in ages and doesn’t know what that implies, so those are minor annoyances compared to his brain’s anguish.

He doesn’t realize she’s leaving him, as we do. (She flees to the home of her mother, Lena Olin, a mother, and daughter pairing that is a casting marvel because their rich, sonorous voices match.) She sent Jakub a recorded message telling him this, but the astro-officials (headed by Isabella Rossellini’s icy-efficient Commissioner Tuma) intercepted it to avoid upsetting him and risking the expedition.

However, locked away with his solitary anxieties, he’s suffering plenty, and when a hairy, six-eyed oversized arachnid shows up in his capsule, speaking to him in a soothing, silky voice, he’s forced to confront both his past (his father was a Communist informant, a man who, as Jakub explains, did the wrong thing for reasons he believed in) and his complicated present, in the form of a partner who feels abandoned, and not just because she’

Jakub names this alien spider Hanus (voiced by Paul Dano), which may exist or be Jakub’s subconscious. He’s a powerful symbol of psychotherapy. (After helping Jakub understand his mind, he purrs, “My interest in you has expired,” something no therapist would say—one hopes.) Spaceman has a cold elegance in its filmmaking. Jakub must face traumatic memories, mostly from his connection with Lenka, when they appear unbidden on a capsule screen. The image’s edges are hazy, as if beamed from his head.

Credit: Netflix

The novelty of Hanus’ presence wears off after two-thirds of Spaceman, and once you understand the underlying issue (Jakub’s primary problem is that he’s been emotionally withholding and too willing to place his space career above all else), you may start looking for the exit. Still, these actors motivate you. Mulligan fully inhabits Lenka’s agony, despite her short role. Jakub feels similar sorrow and loneliness, but he’s the guilty party, and Sandler shows his self-awareness with nervous grace. He appears pale and undernourished, with dark circles around his eyes from six months of inadequate sleep.

Credit: Netflix

Comics love to overshare their strange thoughts in front of an audience. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Sandler is such a compelling dramatic performer. Jakub could be pleasant and likable, but he’s too emotionally locked up to help others. Sandler has never resisted being silly. He’s equally good at playing a man who hoards all his emotions. Giving an audience happy pill makes them love you, but earning their trust minute by minute is different. It turns out that Sandler can do both.

As the story returns to its sci-fi mystery, Spaceman does a great job of weaving these threads together in a way that feels natural and finishes on an optimistic note without a cliche happy ending. Though sad, it’s cathartic and makes you want to hug a talking spider. Even if Hanus would never agree.

Spaceman” premiered on Netflix on Friday, March 1.