The Astronaut's Wife
Encyclopedia
The Astronaut's Wife is a 1999 science fiction
/thriller film directed and written by Rand Ravich
. It stars Johnny Depp
and Charlize Theron
.
astronaut. While on a space-walking mission with fellow astronaut Alex Streck, an explosion results in a communication loss for two minutes between the astronauts and Earth
. After returning to their respective spouses, the two astronauts never speak about their ordeal and Streck grows increasingly hostile towards Armacost, constantly saying that he is not his friend. Not long after their return, Streck bleeds to death during a conference. His death is ruled as a rare hemorrhagic stroke
by NASA. While still in mourning for her lost husband, Streck's wife commits suicide
by sitting in a running shower with an AC powered radio.
Spencer retires from NASA and takes an executive position in New York City
. His wife Jillian (Theron) becomes pregnant with twins. She begins to notice changes in Spencer's personality and becomes suspicious. She questions him about what happened during the time they lost contact.
Sherman Reese (Joe Morton
), a former NASA employee who had been fired after the astronauts' return, contacts Jillian. He tells her that Spencer is not her husband. Originally, Jillian doesn't believe Reese, but she starts to recognize similarities between his accounts and her husband's behavior. Reese makes arrangements to meet Jillian again so that he can show her more proof, but before that happens, it is implied that Spencer kills Reese. Spencer takes possession of a satchel belonging to Reese which contains the information that can explain what's going on. Jillian does, however, receive the information that Reese intended to pass her in the form of a video tape.
Despite the film's earlier ambiguities, Spencer turns out to have been possessed
by an extraterrestrial
being while fellow astronaut Streck witnessed the event. In order to keep the secret, Spencer kills also Jillian's sister Nan, who confronts him when she sees Spencer in possession of Reese's satchel. Jillian, suspicious of her husband's actions, sets up a confrontation where she attempts to electrocute him and herself. The resulting conversation during the confrontation confirms to her that Spencer is possessed. At the end of the confrontation, Spencer is electrocuted and his true alien form, a tentacled energy being, is revealed briefly before "transmitting" itself into Jillian through her eyes and stopping her from being electrocuted.
Years later, Jillian has re-married and sends her twin sons off on their first day of school. It is implied that she is now possessed and that the children, who are also alien, were conceived after Spencer had become possessed. Her new husband is a fighter pilot, a career which Jillian intends for her sons as well.
, the review aggregator, gave the film 16% freshness.
in 1999.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/thriller film directed and written by Rand Ravich
Rand Ravich
Rand Ravich is a film and television director, writer, and producer. He wrote and directed the 1999 science fiction thriller The Astronaut's Wife starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron, which was nominated for the Best Film category at the 1999 Catalonian International Film Festival...
. It stars Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
and Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
.
Plot
Spencer Armacost (Depp) is a NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut. While on a space-walking mission with fellow astronaut Alex Streck, an explosion results in a communication loss for two minutes between the astronauts and Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. After returning to their respective spouses, the two astronauts never speak about their ordeal and Streck grows increasingly hostile towards Armacost, constantly saying that he is not his friend. Not long after their return, Streck bleeds to death during a conference. His death is ruled as a rare hemorrhagic stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
by NASA. While still in mourning for her lost husband, Streck's wife commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by sitting in a running shower with an AC powered radio.
Spencer retires from NASA and takes an executive position in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His wife Jillian (Theron) becomes pregnant with twins. She begins to notice changes in Spencer's personality and becomes suspicious. She questions him about what happened during the time they lost contact.
Sherman Reese (Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
), a former NASA employee who had been fired after the astronauts' return, contacts Jillian. He tells her that Spencer is not her husband. Originally, Jillian doesn't believe Reese, but she starts to recognize similarities between his accounts and her husband's behavior. Reese makes arrangements to meet Jillian again so that he can show her more proof, but before that happens, it is implied that Spencer kills Reese. Spencer takes possession of a satchel belonging to Reese which contains the information that can explain what's going on. Jillian does, however, receive the information that Reese intended to pass her in the form of a video tape.
Despite the film's earlier ambiguities, Spencer turns out to have been possessed
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
by an extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
being while fellow astronaut Streck witnessed the event. In order to keep the secret, Spencer kills also Jillian's sister Nan, who confronts him when she sees Spencer in possession of Reese's satchel. Jillian, suspicious of her husband's actions, sets up a confrontation where she attempts to electrocute him and herself. The resulting conversation during the confrontation confirms to her that Spencer is possessed. At the end of the confrontation, Spencer is electrocuted and his true alien form, a tentacled energy being, is revealed briefly before "transmitting" itself into Jillian through her eyes and stopping her from being electrocuted.
Years later, Jillian has re-married and sends her twin sons off on their first day of school. It is implied that she is now possessed and that the children, who are also alien, were conceived after Spencer had become possessed. Her new husband is a fighter pilot, a career which Jillian intends for her sons as well.
Cast
- Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as Commander Spencer Armacost - Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
as Jillian Armacost - Joe MortonJoe MortonJoseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as Sherman Reese, NASA Representative - Clea DuVallClea DuVallClea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sofie on the television series Carnivàle as well as for films such as The Faculty , Girl, Interrupted and The Grudge .-Early life:DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Rosemary and...
as Nan - Donna MurphyDonna MurphyDonna Murphy is an American stage, film, television actress and singer.Murphy has won two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for her roles in Passion as Fosca and in The King and I as Anna Leonowens...
as Natalie Streck - Nick Cassavetes as Capt. Alex Streck
- Samantha EggarSamantha EggarSamantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
as Dr. Patraba - Gary GrubbsGary GrubbsGary Grubbs is an American actor.Grubbs has several film and television credits to his name, including his portrayal of attorney Al Oser in Oliver Stone's JFK....
as NASA Director - Blair BrownBlair BrownBonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film, and television actress. She has had a number of high profile roles, including a Tony Award-winning turn in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, as well as a run as the title character in the television comedy-drama The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,...
as Shelly McLaren - Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
as Jackson McLaren - Tom O'BrienTom O'Brien (actor)Thomas Patrick "Tom" O'Brien is an American actor since the age of sixteen, having first trained at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where he appeared in ACT's mainstage productions of The Holdup; and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Puck, opposite Annette Bening.O'Brien's feature...
as Allen Dodge - Lucy Lin as Shelly Carter
- Michael Crider as Pat Elliott
- Cole and Dylan Sprouse as Jillian's twin sons
- Edward KerrEdward KerrEdward Kerr is an American actor.Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended Rockhurst High School and Vanderbilt University before deciding to pursue an acting career....
as Pilot
Box office
The movie performed badly at the box office. In its opening weekend the movie grossed $4,027,003 and domestically the movie grossed $10,672,566. The film made $8,926,022 in foreign markets bringing its total box office gross to $19,598,588.Reception
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the review aggregator, gave the film 16% freshness.
Awards
The Astronaut's Wife was nominated for Best Film at the Catalonian International Film Festival in SitgesSitges
*Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla . It houses two Gothic sepulchres , belonging to the an older church located on the same site...
in 1999.