# The Astronaut's Wife
*The Astronaut's Wife* is a 1999 American science fiction horror thriller directed and written by Rand Ravich, starring [Johnny Depp](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-depp) as NASA astronaut Spencer Armacost and [Charlize Theron](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlize-theron) as his wife Jillian, who comes to believe that her husband returned from a space mission a changed man.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Rand Ravich (his directorial debut credit on the film); producer Andrew Lazar[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) |
| Leads | Johnny Depp as Commander Spencer Armacost; Charlize Theron as Jillian Armacost, a Florida schoolteacher[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife) |
| Release | August 27, 1999 (Los Angeles and New York openings); 109 minutes; rated R[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife) |
| Production | New Line Cinema and Mad Chance; distributed by New Line[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) |
| Genres | Science fiction, horror, psychological thriller[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) • [3](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film551026.html) |
| Reception | 14% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 58 reviews; Metascore 38 on Metacritic; US box office gross of $10.7 million[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-astronauts-wife/critic-reviews/) |
| Key crew | Cinematography Allen Daviau; music George S. Clinton; editors Steve Mirkovich and Tim Alverson[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Spencer Armacost is on a routine space shuttle satellite-repair mission when he and his partner (played by [Nick Cassavetes](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-cassavetes)) lose radio contact with NASA for two minutes; during that interval Spencer completely loses consciousness and returns home barely alive.[5](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-astronauts-wife) • [6](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-astronauts-wife/umc.cmc.3ap5atmxua8rpn3gpespgort6) NASA's higher-ups present both men as fully recovered, but Jillian senses from the moment her husband lands that something is wrong: she begins to have violent dreams and the feeling that he is no longer the man, or the lover, he was.[7](https://eppc.org/publication/astronauts-wife-the/) • [6](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-astronauts-wife/umc.cmc.3ap5atmxua8rpn3gpespgort6)
Spencer leaves the space program for a lucrative desk job with a New York aerospace firm with military interests, and Jillian's fears recede when she discovers she is pregnant, with twins.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife) • [5](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-astronauts-wife) The partner from the mission dies of a stroke, and shortly before the partner's wife commits suicide she tells Jillian, cryptically, "He's hiding inside me."[5](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-astronauts-wife) A former NASA employee, Sherman Reese ([Joe Morton](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-morton)), tells Jillian that Spencer's medical data, including his signature, changed after the accident, that the dead astronaut's wife had been pregnant, and that Spencer is no longer himself.[8](https://www.moviebuff.com/the-astronauts-wife) As the birth approaches, Jillian suspects that the child she carries may not be of this world.[9](https://www.kino.de/film/the-astronaut-s-wife-1999/stream/)
## Cast and production
The credited cast includes Johnny Depp (Spencer Armacost), Charlize Theron (Jillian Armacost), Joe Morton (Sherman Reese), Clea DuVall (Nan), [Samantha Eggar](https://www.edgepedia.org/samantha-eggar) (the Doctor), Donna Murphy (Natalie Streck), Nick Cassavetes, Gary Grubbs, Blair Brown, and [Tom Noonan](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-noonan).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) • [10](https://www.netflix.com/title/26057869) Allen Daviau served as director of photography, George S. Clinton composed the score, Steve Mirkovich and Tim Alverson edited, and Jan Roelfs was production designer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE) The film was produced by Mad Chance and distributed by New Line Distribution, Inc., with a copyright claim by New Line Productions dated September 14, 1999.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE)
## Reception and comparison with Rosemary's Baby
The film opened to largely negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 14% Tomatometer from 58 reviews, with a critics consensus that despite the efforts of its leads it "moves at a snail's pace and fails to generate enough intrigue to keep viewers engaged"; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 33%.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 38, categorized as generally unfavorable, though individual critics were more divided: Mick LaSalle of the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle) scored it 75, calling it scary, well-acted, and filmed with flash and elegance, while Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "ridiculously derivative" and Joe Leydon of Variety called it "aggressively stylish but dramatically flaccid."[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-astronauts-wife/critic-reviews/) Its US gross was $10.7 million.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife)
Reviewers and scholars repeatedly placed the film in the lineage of *Rosemary's Baby*, Roman Polanski's 1968 horror film about a pregnant woman who comes to fear a conspiracy around her unborn child. A 1999 [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune) piece noted Theron sporting [Mia Farrow](https://www.edgepedia.org/mia-farrow)-like short hair as she grapples to protect her unborn twins from extraterrestrials, and quoted her saying, "I love Rosemary's Baby and think it's a great movie."[11](https://www.movielore.johnnydepp-zone2.com/AW1999_0826ChicagoTribune_Theron.html) The Ethics & Public Policy Center's review described the film as, like the Alien movies, a mythologization of modern female insecurities about sex and childbearing.[7](https://eppc.org/publication/astronauts-wife-the/) A doctoral thesis on "gynaehorror" treats the film alongside *Rosemary's Baby* in the subgenre of horror centered on parturition.[12](https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/9586/thesis_fulltext.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
## Availability
In the United States the film can be streamed free with ads on YouTube and bought or rented on Amazon Video, the Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home; it is also available on DVD and Blu-ray.[13](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-astronauts-wife) In Germany, where it was released theatrically on November 18, 1999 with an FSK 16 rating, it was not available on any subscription streaming service as of the most recent checks.[9](https://www.kino.de/film/the-astronaut-s-wife-1999/stream/)
## References
1. [The Astronaut's Wife (1999), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60891-THE-ASTRONAUT%27S-WIFE)
2. [The Astronaut's Wife, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife)
3. [The Astronaut's Wife (1999), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film551026.html)
4. [The Astronaut's Wife critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-astronauts-wife/critic-reviews/)
5. [The Astronaut's Wife film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-astronauts-wife)
6. [The Astronaut's Wife, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-astronauts-wife/umc.cmc.3ap5atmxua8rpn3gpespgort6)
7. [Astronaut's Wife, The, Ethics & Public Policy Center](https://eppc.org/publication/astronauts-wife-the/)
8. [The Astronaut's Wife, Moviebuff](https://www.moviebuff.com/the-astronauts-wife)
9. [The Astronaut's Wife (1999) Stream, Kino.de](https://www.kino.de/film/the-astronaut-s-wife-1999/stream/)
10. [The Astronaut's Wife, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/26057869)
11. [Chicago Tribune interview with Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp Zone archive](https://www.movielore.johnnydepp-zone2.com/AW1999_0826ChicagoTribune_Theron.html)
12. [Gynaehorror: Traumas of Parturition and Horror, University of Canterbury thesis](https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/9586/thesis_fulltext.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
13. [The Astronaut's Wife streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-astronauts-wife)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1990s › Released 1996 to 1999*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license