What is the plot?

Sam Walker, an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station, comes back to Earth in chaos when debris strikes her crew transport. The capsule breaks through the atmosphere and plummets toward the Pacific. Coast Guard cutters spot the damaged shuttle and pull Sam from the water; she is alive but dazed and brought ashore. At the hospital, clinicians in full hazmat gear swarm her room and begin a battery of examinations. Sam cannot recall the details of the mishap and doctors place her under quarantine as they seek to rule out contamination or unknown pathogens.

While she lies in isolation, her husband Mark and their young daughter Izzy visit. The reunion is tense: Mark tries to comfort Sam, Izzy clings to her mother, and medical personnel hover just outside. Before long, an officer in military uniform arrives and asserts federal control over the incident. The man identifies himself as General William Harris of the U.S. Army and informs Sam that the Pentagon has assumed responsibility for investigating the crash. For what the general frames as her protection, Sam is removed from the hospital and sequestered with Mark and Izzy at a remote, government-provided rural cottage.

The family settles into the house amid a string of surveillance and enforced boundaries. Sam finds the cabin heavily monitored; hidden cameras observe the grounds. She struggles with fragmented recollections and begins to experience visual disturbances. At times she perceives dark, humanoid silhouettes moving at the edge of the tree line. The site of a bruise she sustained during reentry appears on her skin, then gradually spreads. In addition to these physical changes, Sam discovers that she can affect nearby objects without touching them -- a wristwatch spins, a cup slides off a table -- revealing that she has developed telekinetic ability.

Medical teams return for more testing. Sam speaks privately to Mark on the phone afterward; their conversation reveals strains in their relationship as they attempt to process what happened. She wanders the grounds to clear her head, and midway through a walk she trips over a hidden log and blacks out. When she wakes, General Harris admonishes her for violating security protocols and escorts her back into the house. He opens a floor panel and shows Sam a subterranean bunker already integrated into the residence, explaining that she must retreat there if any intruders breach the property. The general stresses containment and rules.

Night brings an escalating pattern. Power is cut to the property and the alarm systems trigger, automatically sealing doors and amplifying the sense of confinement. A dark entity forces its way into the home. Sam flees into the bunker and secures the hatch behind her. She watches banked monitors and sees that whatever entered the house slips back into the woods and vanishes from view. Personnel arrive the next morning; scientists in clinical coats carry out further examinations and collect data while General Harris briefs them on security measures. Mark and Izzy come to visit during the day, and Sam explains to Mark the true objective of her original spaceflight: while aboard the ISS she supervised the transmission of an intended message to extraterrestrial intelligence. She now believes that something detected that broadcast and has followed her back to Earth.

Their day on the property dissolves into a new assault. While the family moves between rooms in the house, an enormous swarm of insects converges on the structure. A black cloud rises and clings to the exterior, blotting out windows and making the house seem cocooned. The bugs crowds the siding and press against glass, then suddenly collapse and die en masse, blanketing the perimeter with a thick, dead rain of bodies. The phenomenon unnerves everyone, and team members attempt to collect samples. Sam notices new lesions forming across her torso as her condition deteriorates further.

That night repeats the prior pattern: the lights cut, alarms announce an intrusion, and Sam drops into the bunker. This time, in her haste, she stumbles and feels an unfamiliar, fleshy covering on her skin. When she raises her hands under the bunker lighting she realizes her body is coated in a placenta-like membrane. Through the security feeds she sees three shadowy figures already inside the house. The silhouettes move toward the bunker hatch. Intuition and fear drive Sam to crawl through the ventilation ducts; she uses the confined metal channels to exit the shelter and climbs out into the surrounding woods.

The creatures confront her in the dark forest. Their approach is not accompanied by sound; instead, Sam hears voices in her head -- images and feelings poured into her consciousness. Through telepathic contact the beings communicate with her and assert that they are her true family. They tell her that the visions she has been experiencing are not hallucinations but fragmented memories. Years earlier, their spacecraft crashed in the Mojave Desert while the family attempted to hide on Earth. Military operatives pursued them then. In the aftermath of the crash, Sam says she was separated from them and took on the guise of a small human girl. General Harris had found and taken her in, believing he had rescued an ordinary child. The alien family explain that the disguise that Sam had worn is now unraveling; her human skin is sloughing away and the original physiology is reasserting itself.

As Sam and the aliens exchange impressions in the clearing, Mark and Izzy arrive in response to a phone call. General Harris appears with an armed contingent and the situation turns confrontational. Harris reveals his perspective: Sam's mission to transmit an open message into space had been orchestrated in part as a lure. The government had hypothesized that any other extraterrestrial survivors in the area might detect such a broadcast and return, allowing authorities to capture them. Harris intends to take Sam and the aliens into custody for study and containment. He issues orders for his personnel to secure the area and confiscate the foreign subjects.

Mark refuses to accept the general's directives and moves toward Harris to shield his wife. In the ensuing scuffle Mark strikes Harris and knocks the general unconscious. The blow incapacitates Harris but does not kill him; security officers reacting to the fight hesitate and the stand-off becomes chaotic as multiple parties jockey for position.

Sam's transformation accelerates in the midst of the chaos. Her skin ruptures and peels away, revealing an otherworldly form beneath: elongated limbs, different facial structure, and an anatomical architecture inconsistent with human norms. Mark and Izzy watch as flesh and tissue reconfigure into the true alien morphology. Sam speaks with her family in brief, intimate telepathic exchanges and bids farewell to her human husband and daughter. She expresses an acceptance that the human life she had inhabited is ending.

Outside, government agents converge on the remote property. Military vehicles and armed personnel fan out across the grounds, radios crackle, and spotlights sweep the trees. Despite the increasing presence of authorities, Sam moves to join her alien relatives. The family work together to coordinate an escape. A spacecraft, concealed nearby, activates and lifts off from the clearing. Sam climbs aboard with the three beings who identified themselves as her kin. Mark and Izzy remain on the ground, dazed and emotional, while General Harris lies unconscious on the porch where Mark knocked him down. No deaths occur during the confrontation; Harris is not killed but rendered temporarily out of commission by Mark's strike, and no soldiers or civilians are fatally harmed in the sequence.

As the craft rises, the assembled soldiers and scientists strain to respond. Some aim their weapons skyward but the ship accelerates too rapidly for immediate interception. Sam, her three companions, and the vessel ascend into the night sky. William Harris, once he regains consciousness, along with Mark and Izzy, stand watching on the lawn as the alien craft disappears into the stars. The final image is of the ship climbing away, leaving the cottage, the scientists, and the military teams behind under the dark canopy of the night. No member of Sam's family who remains on Earth dies in the events that conclude the episode; Sam departs with her original, extraterrestrial family aboard their spacecraft and the human characters -- Mark, Izzy, and the incapacitated General Harris -- are left to witness her departure from the ground. The story closes with the spacecraft vanishing into the sky and the humans on the property watching until it is out of sight.

What is the ending?

Short Narrative Ending: The movie "The Astronaut" follows astronaut Sam Walker, who returns from her first space mission and is placed in a high-security house for rehabilitation. As strange occurrences unfold, she fears an extraterrestrial entity has followed her. The ending involves a climactic confrontation with the entity, leading to a conclusion that is both intense and unsettling.

Expanded Narrative Ending:

The ending of "The Astronaut" begins with Sam Walker, played by Kate Mara, increasingly convinced that an alien presence is haunting her. The tension builds as she experiences more bizarre and terrifying events within the secure facility. General William Harris, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, oversees her care but remains skeptical of her claims.

As the story progresses, Sam becomes more isolated and desperate. She starts to investigate the strange happenings herself, often sneaking past security to uncover clues. Her actions become more erratic, causing concern among the medical staff, including Dr. Michelle Aiden, played by Ivana Miličević.

In a pivotal scene, Sam discovers evidence that supports her belief in the extraterrestrial presence. This revelation leads to a confrontation with General Harris, who is torn between his duty to protect Sam and his skepticism about her claims.

The climax of the film involves Sam facing the entity directly. The scene is intense and visually striking, with Sam using all her knowledge and skills to survive. The fate of Sam Walker is left uncertain, as the film concludes with her in a state of shock and confusion, suggesting that she may have been affected by the encounter in ways that are not immediately clear.

The ending also leaves the audience questioning the reality of the events, as the line between Sam's paranoia and actual extraterrestrial activity is blurred. General Harris's character undergoes a transformation from skepticism to concern, highlighting the complexity of his role in the story. Dr. Aiden's character remains supportive but is ultimately unable to fully understand or help Sam.

The conclusion of "The Astronaut" is designed to leave viewers with a sense of unease and mystery, emphasizing the psychological horror elements of the film. The final scenes are dark and ominous, setting a tone that lingers long after the credits roll.

Who dies?

Yes, characters do die in the 2025 movie The Astronaut. The most notable death is that of the astronaut Sam Walker's crewmates during the space mission prior to her crash-landing on Earth. The shuttle is hit by debris, causing a catastrophic accident in which the other astronauts perish, leaving Sam as the sole survivor found alive in the damaged capsule off the Atlantic coast. The exact circumstances involve the shuttle being struck by unknown debris during reentry, which punctures the capsule and breaks Sam's helmet, leading to the fatal injuries of her fellow crew members.

Regarding deaths occurring after Sam's return to Earth, the movie focuses more on her quarantine, rehabilitation, and the mysterious extraterrestrial threat she fears has followed her home. There is no detailed information in the available sources about other characters dying during the quarantine or investigation phase. The plot centers on Sam's psychological and physical ordeal, her telekinetic powers, and the suspense of the alien presence rather than additional character deaths.

In summary:

  • Crewmates: Die during the shuttle accident caused by debris impact during reentry.
  • Sam Walker: Survives but is quarantined and subjected to testing.
  • No other specific character deaths are detailed in the sources for the post-crash portion of the film.

The deaths are primarily tied to the initial space mission accident, which sets the stage for the rest of the film's events.

Is there a post-credit scene?

The 2025 movie titled The Astronaut, directed by Jess Varley and starring Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, and Gabriel Luna, does not have any widely reported or detailed post-credit scene based on available information. The search results do not mention a post-credit scene for this specific film. Instead, the details focus on the plot involving an astronaut who crash-lands on Earth and is quarantined, with disturbing events unfolding as she fears something extraterrestrial has followed her home.

There is a mention of a post-credit scene in a different 2025 sci-fi film called Ash, directed by Flying Lotus, which features a scene involving an orbiting station and an alien parasite, but this is unrelated to The Astronaut.

Therefore, based on current information, The Astronaut (2025) does not have a known post-credit scene.

What specific events lead to astronaut Sam Walker being placed under NASA's care in a high security house?

Sam Walker is rescued from the ocean after an incident in space where her capsule was punctured and her helmet cracked during re-entry, an event that should have been fatal. Due to the mysterious circumstances of her survival and the incident, she is placed under intense NASA surveillance in a high security house for rehabilitation and medical testing.

How does the character General William Harris influence the plot and Sam Walker's experience?

General William Harris, played by Laurence Fishburne, is a government agent who places Sam Walker in quarantine and closely monitors her during her rehabilitation. His presence adds a layer of control and tension, as he oversees the investigation into the cause of her return and the strange occurrences she experiences, contributing to the feeling of isolation and surveillance.

What role does Sam Walker's family, particularly her husband Mark, play in the story?

Sam's relationship with her husband Mark, played by Gabriel Luna, is kept at a distance during her quarantine. This strained connection adds emotional depth to her character and highlights her isolation, as she struggles to reconnect with her family while dealing with the disturbing events and her fears of an extraterrestrial entity following her home.

What are the disturbing occurrences that Sam Walker experiences in the high security house?

Sam begins to experience strange visions, hallucinations, and other unexplained phenomena within the isolated house. These disturbing occurrences fuel her fear that an unknown alien entity has followed her back to Earth, creating a psychological horror atmosphere as she tries to discern reality from illusion.

What is the significance of the extraterrestrial entity in relation to Sam Walker's space mission and her return to Earth?

The extraterrestrial entity is central to the plot as it is believed by Sam to have followed her back from space. This entity's presence is linked to the mysterious circumstances of her survival and the strange events occurring during her rehabilitation. It raises questions about what happened during her mission and whether the entity is a threat to her and those around her.

Is this family friendly?

The 2025 movie The Astronaut is generally mild in terms of content and could be considered mostly family-friendly for older children or sensitive viewers, but it does contain some elements that might be unsettling.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects include:

  • Mild violence and gore: There are some disturbing physical abnormalities and a spreading rash on the protagonist, which may be unsettling visually but not graphic or intense.
  • Mild frightening and intense scenes: The film has a suspenseful, eerie atmosphere with escalating spooky or supernatural events, including jump scares and a haunted house vibe, which could be scary for younger children or sensitive viewers.
  • Mild profanity: Some mild language is present but no strong or frequent swearing.
  • No sex, nudity, or drug/alcohol use: The film contains none of these elements, making it less problematic in those areas.

Overall, The Astronaut is a sci-fi horror thriller with a tense, unsettling mood and some mild scares, but it lacks explicit content or strong violence. Parents of younger or sensitive children should be aware of the suspenseful and eerie tone and mild disturbing imagery before viewing.