Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s science fiction film ‘Spaceman’ ends with Jakub Procházka, the cosmonaut who has been traveling to Jupiter to learn about the Chopra Cloud, getting closer to the purple nebula. Jakub sets out to collect the samples of the cloud, following the instructions of Peter, while his new friend Hanuš the Spider stays nearby. After he starts collecting the dust of the nebula, a series of unexpected occurrences unfold, changing Jakub’s life for good. As the movie concludes, the cosmonaut loses his companion and likely regains his partner who has been wanting to separate from him! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Spaceman Plot Synopsis
‘Spaceman’ begins by depicting another day of Jakub Procházka’s mission to study the particles that form the Chopra Cloud. As he is now near the planet Jupiter, he addresses a crowd along with Commissioner Tuma, his commanding officer at the Euro Space Program. He regularly talks to Peter, who oversees the well-being of the cosmonaut and the operation of the spacecraft Jan Hus 1 from Earth. Jakub has been away for 189 days. Meanwhile, his wife Lenka Procházka sends him a message in which she states that she wants to separate from him.
Lenka is pregnant with her and Jakub’s child. Since the cosmonaut agreed to leave for Jupiter without her permission, she is not able to tolerate the absence of the father of her daughter. Her message gets intercepted by Tuma, who doesn’t want Jakub to know anything that would affect his mental state and jeopardize the mission. When the cosmonaut inquires about Lenka, Peter tells him that the former’s wife’s CzechConnect, the device they use to communicate with each other, is under repair and she had left for her mother’s house. Tuma visits Lenka to let the latter know that it is her priority to keep Jakub well enough for him to complete his assignment.
Jakub wakes up one day after having a nightmare of a spider that crawls through his body. After getting up from bed, he opens a chamber in the spacecraft, only to see a giant spider inside it. The cosmonaut freaks out and rushes to the airlock to decontaminate the spacecraft. His efforts to kill the entity fail as it informs that such materials cannot eliminate him. The spider tells him that his “home” was invaded by the Gorompeds. He then traveled for a considerable while to end up in the Solar System. The extraterrestrial being went to Earth’s orbit to learn the language of human beings. His attention then got diverted to the “lonely human” who had been traveling towards Jupiter.
Jakub’s fear of the spider gradually evaporates from him, especially after the latter lets him know that he won’t consume or contaminate him. They create a bond by sharing a hazelnut spread and the cosmonaut explaining their boundaries. The creature lets him know that he must be lonely because he has so many boundaries. To make their communication easier, Jakub names the spider “Hanuš.” Jakub eventually realizes that he hasn’t been a good partner to Lenka, thanks to Hanuš’s reminders concerning the same. The cosmonaut asks Peter to go to Lenka to share a message from him. In the message, Jakub tells her partner that he will try to become a better partner if he gets another chance.
Spaceman Ending: What is Inside the Chopra Cloud?
For four years, the space research community has been trying to unravel the mystery behind the Chopra Cloud. Jakub, under the Euro Space Program, becomes the human being who comes the closest to doing so. As his journey continues, Hanuš describes the nebula as “The Beginning,” indicating that the cloud is formed by particles that formed the universe. He also calls it a “repository” but doesn’t explain a storage unit of what. As far as Hanuš is concerned, the words of the human species cannot describe the nebula as well. Even though Jakub ends up near the cloud, he fails to properly collect the samples of the nebula to find out what exactly the “purple specter” is.
While Jakub fails to collect the samples of the Chopra Cloud, Hanuš leaves the spacecraft, only for the former to follow the creature. Hanuš then guides Jakub into the nebula and the cosmonaut starts to recollect all his memories, ranging from the ones regarding his father to glimpses of moments he shared with Lenka. While his entire life flashes through the mind of Jakub, Hanuš tells his friend that the cloud is the repository of “every vibration of all time,” including his memories. Since dust particles cannot hold human memories, Hanuš possibly explains the experience of passing through the cloud rather than unraveling what the cloud is.
The Chopra Cloud can be a nebula like any other, but it affects Jakub differently. The cosmonaut signs up for the mission to learn about the entity with a lot of ambition. He targets growth in his career and the prospect of beating the South Korean space crew offered immense reputation and acclaim for the scientist. He had caused his partner sadness and alienation by being a part of the space race. However, when he gets surrounded by the particles of the nebula, he realizes how insignificant he is. His ambition and arrogance fall and he gets humbled. The hurt he directly or indirectly inflicted on Lenka becomes meaningless at this point, which is why Hanuš explains to him that no one would need to hurt anyone when they are in the cloud.
Being another particle in the vastness of the Chopra Cloud teaches Jakub that the mountains he hopes to climb are not as tall as he believes. The nebula represents the vastness and depth of the universe to Jakub, who realizes that he is not who he really thinks he is. He feels grounded and capable of seeing himself as another dust particle as far as the limitless universe is considered.
Will Jakub and Lenka Stay Together or Break Up?
After coming out of the Chopra Cloud, Jakub gets spotted by a group of astronauts from South Korea, who rescue him. He calls Lenka in no time to tell her that he wouldn’t have left if he had known what he knows now. Jakub enters the South Korean space vessel as an enlightened man. After the fall of his ambition and arrogance, he realizes that the most important aspects of his life are his relationships. While encountering the vastness of the nebula, the only things that succeed in filling his mind and heart are his memories of his father and Lenka.
While Jakub becomes another dust particle, he doesn’t care about his achievements, fame, success, etc. What remains to him are the people in his life and after his father’s death, Lenka is the most prominent one among them. That’s why he is in a rush to get back together with his wife. He realizes that the heights he has been longing to climb cannot be equated to his companionship with Lenka, which is incomparable. Their togetherness may not be perfect but it is deep and significant as the nebula he encounters. The cosmonaut must have also realized that it is meaningless to cause more pain to his partner.
Lenka’s decision to break up with Jakub is not a spontaneous one. As a partner and father, he has been a failure. He was immersed in the world of his profession and ambition, which stopped him from following her wherever she went. He even fails to share the misery of losing a child with his wife. When she gets pregnant again, he chooses once again to go after his professional dreams instead of being a father and partner. Therefore, Lenka doesn’t have many reasons to accept Jakub back into her life. However, her decision may not be final. The movie ends with the couple talking about a kiss they shared.
Since Lenka can recollect the kiss she shared with Jakub with warm feelings, she likely still loves him. Instead of shutting down her husband for being away from her, she chooses to share an intimate moment with him, which also indicates that her feelings for him haven’t completely evaporated from her. Furthermore, the “visit” of the purple particle, which belongs to the Chopra Cloud, must have convinced her that it can be tough to ignore the captivating realm of space that envelops humankind. She may have finally understood why Jakub prioritized the exploration of space instead of spending his time and life with her.
Considering that Jakub will return to Earth as a changed man, Lenka may give him another chance at life. She may choose to remain together with him rather than put an end to their togetherness.
How Does Hanuš Die?
Hanuš left his home planet due to the invasion of a parasitic creature called the Goromped. The Gorompeds fed on all the living organisms on the planet while Hanuš escaped from the place. Even though he managed to disappear from the invaded planet, he didn’t run away outrightly from the creature. A few Gorompeds succeeded in ending up on Hanuš to feed on him slowly. The Gorompeds that exist on Hanuš multiplied several times to kill him, gradually making him weak. Since they are extraterrestrial organisms such as Hanuš, the decontaminant Jakub uses fails to kill them as well.
The presence of the Gorompeds can be the reason why Hanuš stays away from Jakub physically. Eventually, the Gorompeds multiply enough to consume Hanuš completely, killing him. While the consumption of the Gorompeds seems the obvious explanation, there can be an alternate reason as well. Hanuš can be none other than the creation of Jakub’s imagination. After spending 189 days away from another human being, it is understandable that the cosmonaut can be mentally affected. Similar to several real-life experiences of numerous astronauts, he must have been hallucinating the spider, which explains why the latter doesn’t show up in the footage of the cameras inside the spacecraft.
Hanuš dies when Jakub gets “enlightened” about his life and the mistakes he has been committing. As his ambition and arrogance collapse and he realizes the value of his relationship with Lenka, he gets out of the illusions that have been controlling him. Jakub finally gets grounded and understands the truth of the universe, only for Hanuš to die at the same time. The spider can be seen as a representative of the guilt and regret the cosmonaut has been carrying after having a troubled relationship with himself, his father, and his wife. Hanuš gives him clarity concerning his relationships with all three of them, only for the creature to die when the cosmonaut attains it.
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