Being a movie addict, one of my long-time companions has been IMDb—an online database packed with information from every movie that’s ever seen the big screen.
After every viewing of a film, I go straight to the app and do a deep dive into the making of it. By the time I’ve bored the people around me with the trivial facts I’ve learned, every insignificant aspect of the movie is ingrained in my brain.
When I searched up Adam Sandler’s newest movie, Spaceman, I began with my expectations very, very low. Sandler is an incredible actor, both in comedy and drama—which he’s appeared in a lot more over recent years—but the quality of his films is unpredictable. Some of his movies have become my favorites, such as The Waterboy, and some I’ve barely finished with the notion that I’ve just wasted two hours of my life.
Although it was only released on March 1, 2024, it was already rated a 5.8/10. I don’t necessarily like to go by those numbers, but my expectations sunk even lower; however, after giving the movie a chance, I wasn’t prepared for how emotional it made me.
The story follows Czech astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler) on an eight-month solo mission to explore a pink, vibrant mist that appeared in the sky that they’ve nicknamed the Chopra Cloud. Halfway through his expedition, Jakub begins to project symptoms of distress as his anxiety increases with the lack of contact from his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan). Mission control, which is keeping track of his movement, is informed that Lenka, who’s pregnant with Jakub’s daughter, plans on divorcing him.
A fair portion into the movie, I realized how strange it was going to be witnessing Sandler in a film containing no comedy whatsoever. The only other dramatic movie I remember watching with him as a star was The Meyerowitz Stories, which also ranks high on my favorites list. Both revolve around the importance of character development. Personally, some of my preferred movies aren’t necessarily ones with an appealing plot, but ones where I can observe the growth of someone’s personality from beginning to end.
Jakub projected unbelievable progression in his relationship with Lenka, but what intrigued me most was his gradual bond with Hanus (a foreign, spider-like creature Jakub named Hanus (Paul Dano)—who’s desperate to understand “his kind.”).
I went into this with very little context of what my experience was going to be like, and when I first discovered that the creature he was going to be interacting with was essentially an enormous spider, it’s safe to say I was a little put-off.
The first time Jakub interacted with Hanus he fled to the airlock and attempted to decontaminate the ship in hopes of killing him. When that had no effect, he guzzled a bottle of medicine that was supposed to help his insomnia—a very mild reaction in comparison to what I would’ve done.
Based on how much I hated seeing Hanus on the screen at first, it was strange that I began to adore him at the end.
The thing that impacted me the most was understanding why Hanus was there in the first place. After Jakub got over his instinctual fear, he started to see these visions, both good and bad, from scenes in his childhood and when he first met his wife.
Discussions with Hanus about what they mean led to his realization about what things are actually important in his life. Hanus was the therapist that everyone needs based on seeing how much he’d changed Jakub’s life at the end.
Overall, my journeys through IMDb informed me that Spaceman was in post-production for about three years due to mixed feelings during test screenings before its eventual release. The only reason why many people may have conflicting emotions would be the interwoven fictional elements—specifically the far-fetched, almost funny concept of Hanus. If the producers had gone about the storyline in a different way to make it more realistic while getting the same point across, the film may have gotten better ratings.
However, the least I look for in a movie is that it’s entertaining and thought-provoking; Spaceman had all these features and more. Honestly, a movie about a huge, talking space spider really shouldn’t have been this impactful, but it was.
