The Astronaut (SXSW) Crash Lands into Middling Sci-Fi Horror with Eyebrow-Raising Twist

Title: The Astronaut

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Jess Varley

Writer: Jess Varley

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Starring: Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2025.

Space has long fascinated humans as the final frontier of exploration, emboldening generation-after-generation of would-be astronauts to step up and push the boundaries of our reach further.  With so much left to explore, it’s only natural that we have yet to encounter anything too threatening to our existence. All that can change with one mission though.

After returning from her first mission in space, Captain Sam Walker (Kate Mara) must spend time recovering in a secluded house before revving up for her next launch. Concerned about rumors that if she shares anything but positive results from her recovery that she’ll be forbidden from returning to space, she conceals her ever growing aches, pains, and bruises that have manifested since. As if that wasn’t bad enough, something is stalking her late at night causing her to panic. Unable to tell if she is hallucinating or not, she is determined to stick it out so she can be back up in the stars.

Promising sci-fi horror takes a left turn into total tonal dissonance in The Astronaut.

Initial mystery and interesting character motivations give the impression that there is more than meets the eye to The Astronaut. From its intense opening retrieval sequence to Captain Walker’s introduction to her temporary home, The Astronaut has a flair for the dramatic. With many potential explanations driving her torment, The Astronaut relishes in the setup. Is Captain Walker really being stalked by something that followed her from space or is it all in her head? Or is it something else entirely? Captain Walker makes for an interesting protagonist at first. Driven by her pure love for space, she’s pushed everyone and everything to the side to pursue her dreams. To her detriment, this means that her family and health come second.

Effective, yet familiar, scares pepper the film’s first two acts before devolving into an eye-rolling finale that trades scares for something entirely unearned. Captain Walker’s stay in the government assigned house of horrors has enough scary moments to keep viewers engaged with her gradual unraveling. Unexplainable phenomena and threats of something invading her healing space while she attempts to hold it together make Captain Walker physically and psychologically vulnerable. The Astronaut continually throws more at Captain Walker, and thus the audience, without ever giving her respite. When The Astronaut gets to its reveal, it becomes divisive enough to make or break the film for viewers. This significant tone change alters the rest of the film, ultimately making it feel like the buildup was for nothing.

The Astronaut is at its best when it blends its competent psychological horror with its skin-crawling body horror. Battling her physical wounds with her escalating psychological ones, Captain Walker’s journey through her short term stay in the compound is fraught to say the least. Director Jess Varley injects a sense of urgency to Captain Walker’s ordeal. Little things like shadows appearing in the corner of her eye or the inexplainable setting off of alarms escalate before Captain Walker is in full lockdown mode. Aside from one eye-rolling homage that doesn’t compare, much of Varley’s tension building works. It helps that the special effects work on Captain Walker’s gradually worsening injuries inspires secondhand empathy from how painful it looks, partially thanks to Kate Mara’s work in the third act.

Outside of the tension it builds, The Astronaut struggles to hold it together as a film. Featuring a cast of competent actors, it’s not shocking to see the crew sleepwalk through the production. Without much to go on for their characters, Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, and Gabriel Luna just look confused or bored during most of the production. Given her screen time, Mara does the best but is still hampered by the middling dialogue and hazy motivations. The visual effects work also leads to some suspect moments, too. While the space creature’s design is inspired, it doesn’t quite work out when onscreen. It looks more like a failed legendary Pokémon design than an alien creature worthy of awe and terror.

Cratering on impact, The Astronaut is a case of a well-intentioned production taking a bold swing and missing spectacularly when attempting to tackle a familiar story. Solid production elements and a capable cast cannot save the final act twist that brings the previously earned momentum to a grinding halt. Varley is talented enough to make the most out of the production but hopefully her next feature will have a better story for her to shape. The Astronaut isn’t the worst sci-fi horror film out there, but it doesn’t land the way one would hope upon reentry into the atmosphere.

Overall Score? 5/10