'The Astronaut' (2025)

A sci-fi thriller, ‘The Astronaut’ follows titular captain Sam Walker (Kate Mara) as she crash lands back on Earth after her first mission in space. Not all is as it seems however, as Walker’s mission ended due to debris hitting her ship and causing a breach in the spacecraft. Subject to decontamination and quarantine, Walker is carted to a remote location for observation as she deals with neurological and physical effects of returning to earth.

Simple enough, the premise opens a world to an amalgam of a few familiar science fiction tropes. Initially challenging the viewers to question if Mara’s Walker is of sound mind, the film explores the difficulties or readjusting to life on Earth. Dealing with more than dizziness and nausea however, Walker also faces the dissolution of her family, as her husband Mark (Gabriel Luna) expresses doubts about their future going forward, acknowledging that going on the next space mission is paramount to Sam.

Veering towards a creature feature, ‘The Astronaut’ throws home invasion into the mix as Walker is taunted by a presence at night. Uncovering that the house she is staying in is fortunately also a high level security stronghold, thanks to her adoptive father pentagon Gen. William Harris (Laurence Fishburne), Walker attempts to track the intruder via security cameras set up in and around the house. Conveniently failing her when called upon for reference, the security footage is mysteriously useless, as the footage she saw before is no longer there.

Not quite done with twists and turns, the film peppers in a few telltale breadcrumbs that lead to the film’s ultimate twist. Initially indicating that Sam is suffering some sort of infection, we ultimately discover that she is an alien. Revealed to her by one of the aliens trying to make contact, a flashback shows us that while escaping capture years ago, a group of aliens split up and scatter to escape a US government facility. A young alien then uses a cloaking device to disguise herself as a human, with a young Gen. William Harris then proceeding to adopt the young girl, knowing full well that she is an extraterrestrial. Not done out of love however, Gen. Harris reveals that he adopted young Sam to raise her and use her as bait to lure more aliens to come to Earth.

Ultimately transforming back into her alien form, Sam chooses to leave her husband and adoptive daughter behind to escape earth with her alien family. Ignoring the long con being pulled by Gen. Harris, the film feels like it took it a step too far. Cramming the under 90 minute feature full of familiar tropes and cliches, the last twist it pulls feels the least deserved. Besides the outrageous reality that the film is trying to get away with, Sam’s character feels like an unwilling participant in her own story. Used as bait and then choosing to abandon the people she’s spent her life with just because she isn’t technically from this world feels like a cop-out. Where we have seen Sam fighting for her marriage even though it had seemed like her husband had given up, the conclusion of the feature spits in the face of everything she had said before, making the absurd twist even less potent.

Criminally underused, Laurence Fishburne’s Gen. William Harris only ever appears on screen to deliver exposition. Not that the exposition is useless or a failure to deliver story through showing us what’s happening, but rather with disappointment stemming from the misuse of a talent like Fishburne. Capable of more than regurgitating technical and factual summaries of where we’re at in terms of the story, Fishburne seems genuinely unenticed by the project he is participating in. Not deterring from the story, but sort of delivering what he has to, the legendary actor detracts from the already less than adventurous affair.

Poorly written, badly edited and delivering some PS2 cut-scene worthy CGI aliens, ‘The Astronaut’ hardly fits into the current era of quiet, contemplative and effective horror sci-fi. Failing to rouse fear, intrigue or even a little excitement, the film falls flat at every turn and feels like an overstuffed B-movie rather than a quality suspense thriller.

Score: 1/4