The Astronaut

Nothing about this movie makes any sense to me. It looks fantastic, if I had this on in the background with the sound down, I would guess it was fair to good film, but turn the sound on and start paying attention and forget it. The story, the characters, the bombastic sound all make this feel like a fever dream miss mash of derivative scenes from other sci fi films to the point where I kinda guessed what to expect by the end, I wasn't quite right but pretty close.

There is little logic on display and every character comes across as selfish and unlikable so it's hard to care less what happens to any of them, except the cute little girl but that's a kind of a given Kids are cute through no fault of their own. I realise it is incredibly difficult to make a movie never mind a good one but I still don't understand how such weak logic and characters can muster so much budget, support and quality crew.

After watching The Astronaut, it feels as though writer/director Jess Varley saw Dark Skies, District 9 and Close Encounters and thought 'what would happen if I mashed those together on a shoe-string budget?' The result - a largely predictable, run of the mill haunted house film about aliens, with some minor body horror thrown in for good measure.

Sam (Kate Mara) has just returned from a mission in space, and has been requested to undergo daily medical and fitness tests to determine if everything is okay. What was the mission? You'll find out later. Sam begins to experience the kind of things astronauts allegedly might after returning to earth - dizziness; tinnitus; hallucinations; strange marks on her body. Totally normal, right? Right?

On entry into Earth's atmosphere, something slammed into Sam's pod. Despite those bizarre circumstances, Sam's (adoptive) father, General Harris (Laurence Fishburne), pulled strings to have her stay at an idyllic location in the middle of nowhere. Sam's lengthy time away has put a strain on the relationship she has with her husband Mark (Gabriel Luna) and daughter Izzy (Scarlett Holmes). This isn't helped by her desire to go on another mission, but when her fellow astronaut Val (Macy Gray), tells her to keep any nasty symptoms on the downlow, else risk not going into space again, Sam has a choice to make - admit that things are slowly getting worse, or stay silent.

The film deserves kudos for the ending, which offers a unique twist that was genuinely welcoming. Despite that, a majority of the film plays like a list of horror house tropes. Spooky sounds; check. Shadows moving in the background; check. Objects moving on their own; check. Other characters don't believe the victim; check.

We've seen it done a hundred times before. It might have been nice to see things that were a bit more...alien. During the final credits, we are treated to some amazing otherworldly imagery, and I found myself wishing more of THAT was actually IN the film.

Additionally, for the most part, the aliens are continuously concealed. The darkness of night very often obscures them, though there are sequences that are so dark, you cannot see anything at all. This is frustrating when Sam is frightened of something, and yet we cannot see it. However, I do need to congratulate the film on the effects, which are not half bad (when we have the chance to appreciate them).

This film is a Kate Mara vehicle, and she does a good job holding it together, but let's be honest - she doesn't have a lot to work with. She masterfully conveys fear, though when it comes to her family, the script is lacking with things to do, and the same could be said for her as a person. What does she like to do when she's not in space? Why did she become an astronaut? How did she meet her husband? What we know about Sam could be summed up in one sentence, which isn't ideal when we're going to be spending almost every scene with her.

Moreover, Gabriel Luna in some ways plays the heart of the film, and he does a good job showing he cares, but the limited screen time doesn't give him a lot of opportunities. Lastly, the always entertaining Laurence Fishburne likewise excels in a supporting role as an authority figure. That said, he also has very little to do here, which is a real shame.

Moving on, the soundtrack does evoke themes of the unknown, though it has the annoying habit of playing during sequences when the film wants us to focus on other sound effects (example, generic alien noises). During these scenes, the film can't really have its cake and eat it. It may have been better to let the diegetic sound play on its own.

The film also has a habit of copying from other movies. What's that saying - flattery is the highest form of praise? Well, in that case, this feature is praising A LOT of movies. There are sequences of flashing rainbow-coloured lights (Close Encounters anybody), and there is a kitchen scene that is ripped right out of Jurassic Park. These are two examples, but believe me, I could go on.

The movie does have themes on acceptance and humanity, which are nicely executed, but don't hold the depth they otherwise could. And that last part - about a lack of depth - really sums up the whole experience. The movie understands how to build tension and how to craft a mystery, but there was so much room for more. This is a 90-minute movie (it did feel shorter though, which is a compliment of sorts), that I think could have been longer to give the characters, themes and mystery room to grow.

I could see myself watching it again (it's Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne; who doesn't like them?), but the movie also convinced me to go watch every other film that inspired it; films that better demonstrate how to craft a mysterious alien thriller.

Edit: If anyone is getting paid, it's people giving this a rating over 5/10 stars and down voting critical reviews. My review is honest and somehow the next day my review has multiple down votes. I watch 1000s of movies. I rated this fairly. There's no way out of all movies ever made, this is above a 5/10. I'm being generous. Also, look at the count. How many people have reviewed this. That says more than the actual reviews. NOBODY is watching it or even cares to review it.

I just read another review, sorry but nobody is paying people to give this movie a bad review.

The actors did a great job.

I was actually into the movie until the final act. The other reviewers are spot on. Not sure what the writers were thinking. Feels like they ran out of time or just didn't care about the end.

The CGI looks like a low budget film from 25 years ago. It would've been better if they left out the majority of it.

Everything was great until the final act.

Initially I was lured into watching "The Astronaut" as the movie's cover/poster really was interesting, plus the fact that it was a movie that I had neither seen nor actually heard about also helped to make me want to watch it. I had no idea what I was in for here, aside from it being a sci-fi thriller. Normally, then sci-fi is not my go-to genre for entertainment, but every now and again I do venture down that path.

I found the storyline to be entertaining. Writer Jess Varley was good at setting the stage and slowly building up suspense, without going overboard, and always keeping the audience in the dark and in suspense. So thumbs up for that. However, the ending of the movie was rather cheesy. I am not saying that it was a bad ending, but it was definitely a campy one.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne and Ivana Milicevic. The acting performances in the movie were good.

The effects in the movie were okay. The aliens did look a bit too CGI generated, and not in a particularly convincing way, which was a little bit disappointing.

I was genuinely and adequately entertained throughout the course of the 90 minutes that the movie ran for. But it is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing, as there simply isn't sufficient contents in the script to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of writer and director Jess Varley's 2025 movie "The Astronaut" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I admire the makers' commitment to the film's sound and production design. That made me buy into the first two acts, especially the tense middle section. It, in fact, made me contemplate a different version of Cloverfield, but some aspects were still amiss. However, the final act is a total bummer. Yes, the twist might be unexpected, and on paper, it sounds like a really interesting idea. Yet what we see unfold on screen is surely lacklustre.

The film also shows a NASA astronaut (who has just returned from an expedition in space) looking up conspiracy theory websites about UFOs (..are you being serious right now?). It's almost as if a filmmaker is obsessively using Reddit to improve their filmmaking. From that moment on, the storytelling lost its grip on me. Until then, I was moderately enjoying it as a chamber horror flick with psychological thriller undertones. Kate Mara is always a dependable performer, and she doesn't disappoint.