The Astronaut (2025)

The Astronaut is a 2025 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Jess Varley and starring Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, and Ivana Miličević. The film depicts an astronaut who believes an extraterrestrial entity has followed her back to Earth. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Sam Walker, a NASA astronaut from the International Space Station, crash-lands back on Earth, after a mission gone wrong when her shuttle was hit by debris. She is eventually rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to the hospital for recovery. Upon awakening, doctors in hazmat suits enter the room to question her about what happened during the accident; Sam does not remember and is placed into quarantine for decontamination. She is visited by her husband, Mark, and daughter, Izzy, before her father, U.S. Army General William Harris, arrives to tell her that the Pentagon is now taking over the investigation of the crash. For her own safety, Sam is confined alone to a rural cottage.

As Sam adjusts to her new situation, strange occurrences begin happening - she has hallucinations of shadow soldiers, black shadows stalking her from the nearby woods, and the bruise she received during her reentry starts to spread. Sam also discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Upon completing a series of medical tests, Sam calls Mark, who tells her that they are still having difficulties trying to cope as a family. While walking outside, Sam notices that the entire premises is wired with hidden cameras, before tripping over a log and falling unconscious.

William scolds Sam for nearly breaking protocol and shows her that the hidden cameras are linked to an underground bunker in the house, which she's to use if any intruders breach the property. Strange occurrences begin happening, and later that night, the power cuts out, and the alarm system is triggered, locking Sam in the house. A black creature manages to enter the home, forcing Sam to flee into the bunker and lock it behind her. When she looks at the security cameras, the black creature has disappeared back into the woods.

The next morning, William arrives with the scientists and they conduct another round of medical tests. Afterward, Mark and Izzy also arrive to visit. Sam privately speaks to Mark about the black creatures and reveals the true purpose of her mission: to oversee the transmission of a message intended for extraterrestrial life. Sam now believes that something detected the message and has followed her back to Earth. While walking around the property, the family is suddenly attacked by a swarm of insects that forces them back to the house. The massive cloud of bugs covers the building, blacking out the windows, only to die en masse moments later.

Sam discovers more bruising forming all over her body as her condition continues to worsen. Again, at night, the power is cut and the alarms indicate a breach. Sam retreats to the bunker, only to trip and discover that her body is covered in a placenta-like material. She checks the monitors to learn that there are three creatures already inside the house. When the creatures enter the bunker, Sam flees through the air ducts and into the woods, where the creatures confront her. Through telepathy, they reveal to her that they are her real family and Sam is actually an alien like them. Her hallucinations were memories of when they were being pursued by government authorities after their ship crashed in the Mojave Desert years earlier. Sam was separated from her family and took on the guise of a little human girl, whom William assumed to have saved, and this disguise is starting to wear off. Mark and Izzy arrive shortly after they receive a phone call. William confronts them, revealing that Sam's mission was actually devised to lure in the other aliens that landed years ago, so they can be captured by the government. William informs his team of soldiers about his position but before he can take Sam into custody, Mark knocks him out.

Sam's body fully deteriorates, revealing her true alien form to Mark and Izzy. Accepting that her human life is over, Sam says goodbye to her Earth family before boarding a spaceship with her true family to evade the converging soldiers. William, Mark, Izzy and William's soldiers watch as the huge ship leaves the house and flies into the night sky.

Cast

Kate Mara as Sam Walker

Laurence Fishburne as General William Harris

Gabriel Luna as Mark

Scarlett Holmes as Izzy

Ivana Miličević as Dr. Michelle Aiden

Macy Gray as Val

Production

The Astronaut marks the solo feature writing and directing debut of Jess Varley. It was produced by Brad Fuller, Eric B. Fleischman and Cameron Fuller. Laurence Fishburne and Emma Roberts were cast in early 2023. In September 2023, Kate Mara (replacing Roberts) and Gabriel Luna joined the cast.

Principal photography took place in Ireland in late 2023. By February 2024, the film was in post-production.

Release

The Astronaut premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 7. In September 2025, Vertical acquired U.S. rights to the film. It was theatrically released in the United States on October 17, 2025.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 26 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

The Astronaut at IMDb