The Film That Gave Me Space Phobia

Have you ever looked up in the sky and felt like the stars are going to fall on your head? Or perhaps you've tried Google Earth VR like I did and panicked at the sight of the Sun.
Whatever the case, fear of space is a real thing, and it happens to combine the worst parts of megalophobia (fear of big things) and thalassophobia (fear of deep water) - the unknown, the all powerful. And if there is one film that captures that horror the best, it's Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
HIGH LIFE is now streaming on MUBI in Canada, UK, Ireland, Turkey and the Netherlands. Watch it now on Mubi for FREE for 30 days, using my link at mubi.com/spikimamovies
///
Music download: spikima.wixsite.com/spikima
Patreon: / spikima
Paypal: www.paypal.com/paypalme/spikima
Instagram: @ spikima
Merch: www.teepublic.com/stores/spik...
Merch 2: www.bonfire.com/store/spikima/
Your support helps with keeping the channel running.
Love.
///
Extra Credits:
End section music 'Vibe Check' by Su13lime - check his YT & IG out at Su13lime, as well as on various music platforms like spotify and apple music. Absolute bangers. Wonderful stuff.
infinitely by Keys of Moon | / keysofmoon
Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Timestamp
0:00 Thalassophobia & Megalophobia
1:55 Fear of Space
2:53 Phobia in Films
4:32 Space Odyssey
5:05 Camera Work
6:41 Editing
7:29 Circles and Lines
9:14 Trapped in Space
10:46 Thank You
#videoessay
#2001aspaceodyssey
#phobia

[@SpikimaMovies]

What's YOUR favourite sci-fi film that gives you that hibbie jibbies?!

[@l.e.b.3541]

​@@admin00 beautiful choices :)

[@VIK_1903]

Have you ever watched Moon (2009)?!

[@lloydjovetic155]

Yeah Alien

[@Tmtrnr22]

Definitely Alien and then the Thing or 2001 on 2nd place

[@cambruh5992]

Europa Report or Gravity. Alien did the opposite, surprisingly, I think Xenomorphs are so cuuuuuute I love them I would try to pet one.

[@javiersuarezleiva]

As SK put it: "The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent"

[@mpemberton7760]

@javiersuarezleiva Perhaps this is why humans created gods, myths, religions and cosmologies, as a way to consciously connect with - and feel a sense of existential significance in - an indifferent universe.

[@buttertool6211]

Kubrick just made one masterpiece after another, good god, imagine making the best space horror film without making it a horror movie

[@28Pluto]

And then also making one of the best horror movies (The Shining), without it feeling like any other horror movie that came before.

[@richardscally694]

The Master Film Maker, what a legacy.

[@mikkoleinonen9846]

Kubrick also makes the best, most realistic battle scenes, in movies that aren't war films.

[@Cosmicwolf369]

I absolutely agree! 2001, the shining and a clockwork orange… timeless masterpieces! 🙌🏽

[@ThePitchblue]

2001 has actually captured the essence of cosmic horror, unlike any other piece of art. and I mean that in the best way possible.

[@ashholiday123]

*Sees thumbnail* Welp, thats 2001 a space oddyssey. I can actually HEAR that scene which is crazy consdiering... You know... The sound in that scene.

[@SpikimaMovies]

Almost thought of using 'that sound' for a big chunk of this video but that gave me anxiety so I stopped.

[@Carcosahead]

What sound?

[@creativecarrot1996]

​@@CarcosaheadYou know, 'that sound'.

[@user-ze5uq4te5r]

​@@Carcosaheadthe sound of rough breathing during the entire scene was... anxiety-provoking, to say the least

[@headphonic8]

@@creativecarrot1996the sound literally cuts out in that scene so I have no idea wtf sound they're talking about

[@Jobe-13]

Its super easy to forget just how big space actually is. Its frightening and amazing.

[@SeattleWaffle]

Aniara (both the poem and movie) is what brought back my fear of space (and existential dread), the sheer distance between everything

[@ThePitchblue]

2001, if anything, gave me astrophilia, or rather cemented it, since I was already obsessed with sci-fi. I was around 7-8 years old, and I think that it literally changed my psyche in ways that I am still discovering at the current age of 42. It is to interesting to see how it affected other people in a completely different manner, yet that furthermore intensifies my love for this film somehow, just as any astrophobia video would do with my astrophilia, strangely enough. thank you for the insight into your phobia, as our fears are one of the most intimate experiences that we can possess. and you laid it out so perfectly in this essay.

[@manosgasteratos6782]

Also "Aniara" a low budget Swede film, conveyed perfectly this space - cosmic desolation. Got a pretty hefty existential crisis after watching it.

[@Curry.N]

What frightens me the most is the idea of time dilation in space, much like what is depicted in "Interstellar" and "Foundation."

[@Orion225]

Kubrick not only make movies, he defines cinematic experience.

[@harold3165]

Bravo, Stanley

[@johndef5075]

The cold precision with which events take place in the movie is also startling. No gasping for air, cries for help, or close ups of an anguished face. Just suddenly the astronaut is floating away into the void.

[@ilirlluka6789]

Personally "Sunshine" was the movie that gave me space phobia. "... the only dream I ever have...is the surface of the Sun...every time I shut my eyes... " One of the most beautiful and the most terrifying phrases ever uttered in a sci-fi dialogue.

[@yvespochara]

It‘s such a phenomenon to me how you always deliver the right film to the right moment for me. I saw 2001 just a few weeks ago for the first time and I was absolutely blown away by just everything, especially the whole ending sequence.

[@petergivenbless900]

On editing: one of the scariest "edits" is what I call the "intensifying cut" (I don't know if it has an official name), where a film cuts unexpectedly tighter and tighter on a subject. Kubrick uses it noticeably when HAL turns Frank's Pod toward him during his spacewalk; we cut from a medium "face-on" shot of the Pod to closer shots centering on HAL's "eye" in rapid sequence. I first noticed this type of cut(s) in Hitchcock's 'The Birds' when Melanie's mother checks on a neighbour whose farm was attacked to find him dead, with his eyes pecked out; the image cuts from wide shot to medium to close-up of the face with hollowed sockets as if to rub your nose in the horror! I have noticed the effect used in other films too; Spielberg has used it in a few films with varying effect. To me, one of the scariest thoughts about being in space is weightlessness; it seems like fun until you realise that it is actually the result of being in freefall, you feel "weightless" because you are falling!

[@JonJonJonathan]

I was thinking about this the other day! For me its the silence and abruptness of the rapid closer cuts that just unsettle me for some reason like as you mentioned with 2001 with hal and in the birds with the guy with his eyes pecked out.

[@yahyabarzak4525]

Huge fan of your videos, your descriptions of shot breakdowns, use of sound and lighting are really enlightening! Please keep up the awesome work

[@SpikimaMovies]

Thank you! :)

[@rbruch98]

The opening "single-shot" sequence at the beginning of "Gravity" induced a panic attack in me. To be fair, I saw it in IMAX. Then, the sequence you showed from Interstellar (also seen in IMAX) instilled a bizarre sense of both fear and wonder.

[@jyesucevitz]

I think the true silence in space while everything crashes was unnerving.

[@dale3968]

The timing of this video couldnt be more perfect as I just watched 2001 last night for the first time and loved it!

[@user-ze5uq4te5r]

I finally saw this film few months ago when it reopened in Korea. I always knew that this film was basically bible of SF movie, but actively avoided getting any information about it because I wanted the best possible experience. And it really paid off. It was the best cinematic experience I think I would ever get.

[@Gregsistentialism]

I love your videos for how you never waste time trying to recap the entire movie. You dissect and explain at such a quick pace that it never feels like you’re simply analysing a single point for so long it outstays its welcome. Always such stellar stuff

[@SpikimaMovies]

Thank you :) !

[@justinholtman]

I think life was actually a good underrated space movie.

[@SpikimaMovies]

Actually vibe with that movie so much - weirdly haunting, that film.

2001 is like my fav movie ever, but I think the Swedish film Aniara captures the kind of dread you’re looking for far more. The suspense/horror sequences of 2001 comes from being in this enclosed claustrophobic ship controlled by an AI, while the open space shots are - in my meaning - meant to read as awe inspiring and epic rather than existential dread. In Aniara, in the other hand, the emptiness and vastness of cosmos itself is what they’re up against. Almost the opposite of claustrophobic, a space so suffocatingly vast and empty and hostile.

[@jessievr8111]

Agree 100 %

[@SpikimaMovies]

Ohhhh gotta watch this! Didn't know about this one at all!

[@landscapedetective4064]

@@SpikimaMovies FYI 'Aniara' was based on an epic Swedish science fiction poem written between 1953 and 1956, by Harry Martinson. Original title: Aniara: en revy om människan i tid och rum (Aniara: a revue on humanity in time and space). It was performed as an opera in 1959. The more recent film was released in 2018. The film is worth watching. I don't often recommend Wikipedia, but for once it covers the subject quite well.

[@cruros9084]

I still vividly remember a nightmare I had years ago where I was at a space station, overshot a jump and started drifting away into the empty void of space.

[@qelgrun]

I’ve always loved 2001, it’s one of the few movies I own on blu-ray. I love that you described it as haunting - I’ve always thought that also. Thanks again for the analysis, I’d love for you to have discussed it further! 👍

[@kaisaplews1407]

Google earth vr causing panic attack is too relatable, also super high quality photo of Earth made my heart jump out and cause hard panic attack, I absolutely dont know how people live in ISS

[@billstorie1186]

Entering the stargate sequence...I was in my early teens watching in a fairly large yet almost empty and verrrrrry dark cinema and it scared the bejezus out of me. That idea of falling into an endless void and - most importantly - being totally unsure as to what images were about to be unleashed on me with no way to even close my eyes in time before seeing them was genius on Kubricks part. The music played a huge part as well inasmuch as shifting the "reality" of the piece from sci-fi to (potentially) horror, at least in my perception of the movie at that time. My brain was literally dreaming up scenarios where aliens were taking his brain and body apart to study him and that we were in for a gore-fest. Brilliant stuff!

[@alexandrahill9176]

I don't know how but I still have yet to see this film, and now after watching yourperspective on it, I'm excited to see it in a light I don't think I could have ever anticipated. I am a sci-fi and a horror movie fan, I'm excited to see/feel how those two will be combined once I eventually see this film.

[@Rishi123456789]

I also haven't seen 2001: A Space Odyssey yet, but I'll finally see it sometime this month.

[@20Gero09]

How did you both like it?

[@plague9818]

Man, your videos are perfect. The editing and writing are top tier

[@alexandragabitto2573]

As someone who will always be more scared of whatever’s at the bottom of the ocean than outer space I found this video fascinating. I think this is because I am terrified of the idea of a (supposedly) safe place having always been a death trap lying in wait. Also I am a Pisces! 😅

[@anyalykho138]

For 2001, the movie amazed me. But the book? (Shudders) ough the transcendence scene was captured so beautifully

[@SpikimaMovies]

Agreed.

[@joeyg5217]

2001 a space odyssey was ahead of its time and still is

[@OGM_OriginalGameMusic]

Amazing vid! You'd be surprised by how much your videos help my music. Thanks for everything, mate 😉

[@onerva.]

simply the best film ever made, great video!

[@shlck6734]

Danny Boyle’s Sunshine is fantastic. Everything about it highlights how horrifying space is

[@MrUtah1]

Yeah that movie scared me as well. Also Gravity scared me too

[@benruniko]

I dont have thalassophobia or the fear of space, but my fear of heights extends to both of these. I hate knowing how far down the bottom of the water is, and space? Falling forever? Bad. Very bad.

[@LongTran-xw5yp]

I hope that you continue to put out videos like this for us junior filmmakers to study. Really appreciate your efforts & your being itself. Thank you Spikima!

[@GunzyHD]

Thank GOD you added the Scary Movie clip; I wouldn't have understood otherwise.

[@rubenbaijense2361]

I honestlt dont even care what people say anymore when analyzing this film, all of it applies in some way or another, always. Probably the greatest achievement in this artform there is

[@catgemstudios1121]

I saw 2001 in my school's theater for the first time. Absolutely scared me down to the core of my being. Plus the speaker system was wayyyy amped up so when the score picked up the entire theater vibrated.

[@ericjourdain892]

Hey Spiki, I admire your guts to take on this monolith of cinema that is 2001, with an interesting perspective no less! I just watched your screening of The Wailing (without subtitles) and it feels like sitting on a couch with you enjoying the moment. Your reactions are so pure and unfiltered, I loved the experience. Can't wait for more. Cheers from Paris as usual:)

[@sweeps6089]

Another amazing video with amazing editing. Thank you!

[@Auraniwastaken]

When I was younger I used to play a space simulator, called Independence War: Edge of Chaos. It didn't scare me when I was zooming through space, approaching giant planets at immense speeds. I'm thirty years old now, and the sheer thought of playing that game now terrifies me.

[@elias_8976]

Hey I just wanted to say your videos are super duper inspiring and I love them so keep it up and I can’t wait for the next one. Thanks for the inspiration 😄

[@Jimmy1982Playlists]

Kubrick was on another level... and still is, as no one else has reached it!

[@Cosmicwolf369]

I absolutely agree!

[@sayedammanakhtar1225]

I have been a big fan of your work and have been following your videos for quite some time now. Your expertise and analysis in the horror genre have always impressed me. Given your exceptional talent, I would love to see you make a video discussing "Noroi: The Curse." I believe your insights and commentary would add another layer of appreciation for this already remarkable film. Thank you for creating such amazing content.

[@acadia5898]

one of my favorite movies of all time

[@DeathBeforeComicSans]

This was really helpful-I have a hard time with Kubrick films, and explanations like this help them make more sense to me.

[@fernandomaron87]

Can you explain why do you have a problem with them? Just being curious.

[@DeathBeforeComicSans]

@@fernandomaron87 I get a sense that he does obscure for the sake of obscure: like, “if you get the meaning, you’re probably as smart as me. If not, you’re a fucking idiot.” I have no problem admitting I don’t understand what he’s doing-I don’t think inaccessibility is a flex.

[@OllieColt]

I love this film sm, thank you for this video it made me see even more things to love about it.

[@LyricalXilence]

The end of The Martian when Mark almost floated passed the captain who was trying to bring him into the ship made me fear the nothingness, vastness and blackness of space.

[@Tmtrnr22]

Spectacular Video as always! Thank you very much or these videos, they are great.

[@SpikimaMovies]

Thanks! :)

[@jeffreywillstewart]

I was 10 when I saw 2001. That cricket headed astronaut had us rolling & we got kicked out.

[@mikkoleinonen9846]

Laird Barron sums up my feelings about space perfectly in The Croning: "The cold impassive stars didn't bother him so much as the gaps between them did."

[@powerofberzerker9487]

Your videos are, like, perfect.

[@nerd26373]

Space Odyssey isn’t a typical sci-fi film. It has all the elements that deviates the film itself from all the rest. The atmosphere alone gives you the unsettling feeling without having to be on the nose with it. We can say for modern day filmmaking has impacted the way we view things, even from far off space.

[@user-kb6mj7zq8t]

I've never seen this movie yet. I'm obsessed with outer space. I'm waiting till the perfect moment.

[@headphonic8]

Holy shit, I had the SAME experience with Google Earth VR years ago and thought I was crazy! God I couldn't even bring myself to open my eyes, it was terrifying. But rather than thinking it was specific to space, I felt like it was a fear of the giant planets looming around me. Same reason I'm terrified of standing right next to gigantic murals

[@SpikimaMovies]

absolutely. to this day I still hate the opening of Google VR where we start in the middle of the space facing Earth. :') So scary

[@georgerolandallen]

this video is nuts. so good

[@GOODBOYMODZZ]

The Stargate Sequence is pure cosmic horror.

[@GTH321]

As a kid and still now it just freaks me out thinking of endless void

[@EveloGrave]

Interesting how people have different perspectives on things. The insignificance and the grandness of the universe brings me extreme elation. I revel in the isolation and unimportance of life on Earth. Something about being as important to the universe as a grain of sand is to a human is just... I dont know. Awesome.

[@jwnj9716]

When I watched it for the first time, I asked myself, "Is this supposed to be a horror movie?". And then I see guys like Rob Ager who made videos about the horror of 2001.

[@-PNGMAFIA-]

i had a dream a few months ago where i was in space. usually i love space but that dream was terrifying. i was completely weightless and everything was so far away

[@hippolytabaker9559]

*sees thumbnail* *suddenly remembers exactly how I felt seeing that scene for the first time as a kid*

[@kiremi14]

One of the first films that gave me the fear of space was actually Beetlejuice. In the sandworm scenes, you can see a massive green moon/planet in the sky, and some unknown smaller one more distantly. It had been mentioned in the film as "Saturn".

[@Ace01010]

Just reread Blame! and I got the same feeling, cult favorite manga for a reason.

[@Lilnugget_96]

Heyy Spikima, wonderful video as always! Was just wondering, have you watched Aftersun and if you have, are you planning on making a video on it?

[@nostromonaut]

2001 is one of those movies I wish I could see for the first time again

[@verdura31]

There is a movie name aniara, about the last space ship going from a decade earth to new earth, but something happened to the ship that force em to be stranded in space, as we can see how people slowly deteriorate and lose their sanity as the ship drift into the unknown, a massive metal coffin for them to live their last years before hunger, sanity or even worst, the nothingess of space kill em all one by one. It's an interesting movie, u should check that out to deep your space phobia even more.

[@beanyt464]

I would highly recommend Ad Astra

[@dannahbanana11235]

I'm one of those people that just can't handle visualising the scope of the universe. That aside, something about Kubrick's shots are so surreal they freak me out anyone. So combined? 😬

[@asparagus420]

when I first tried my VR headset I got so weirdly scared that I would cling to the floor, and then when I tried a solar system tour on the headset, that's when I knew that I was very afraid of the infinite empty space, it seems to terrify me without me knowing exactly why (btw I know space isn't empty, literally everything is in space)

[@BryceChillis]

it takes a minute to get there but he's talking about kubrick's 2001

[@b_x_q]

i hope you do a film analysis for Talk to Me ! it has a lot of hidden layers. id love to hear your take on it

[@chend2713]

the image that gave me "swag"phobia (image of myself)

[@A.I.A.M.]

some of the best movie break-downs on youtube, thank u for amazing content!

[@gustavhjertman3551]

High Life is probably the one that made me feel the most uneasy. The imagery really stuck with me

[@OmniRemix]

If you're looking for space horror that's not quite as elevated as 2001 but more focused on the realities of space travel isolation, I'd recommend Europa Report (2013). It's not perfect, but it installed a fear of realistic space in me like no other. Sunshine (2007) is the runner up. That film is a maelstrom of emotions before horror, but some of the scenes seriously f'd me up.

[@lizzyrank5405]

There is a game that also shows how terrifying and wide space is. I forgot the name but I think it came out around 2013

[@WetHamMan]

When I was little I was terrified that I would have to go to space for some reason. How would that situation would even be possible

[@Verboten-xn4rx]

Never seen a space airlock open not once. Will check it.

[@yayie2235]

The movie Gravity, having yourself "detached" is torturous enough.

[@mikeniz135]

Kubrick still the GOAT

[@The1rust]

Nice to see some R-Point recognition.

[@metaturnal]

Have you seen Sunshine? I think it is an interesting movie. It is more about the brutality of space and sunshine.

[@manasamafan444]

you are genuinely such a cool dude i wanna be your friend so bad

[@ExpandBoard]

it ironic that this film came out before the moon landing

[@8_Bit]

At 10:09 you say "David" and show Frank, then show David and say "Frank". I still enjoyed the video :)

[@SpikimaMovies]

Oh did I! Thank you for the correction :)

[@Dtlas]

Hey Spika! 저는 한국 사람이고 스피카무비스 구독자예요. 지난 영상들에는 한글 자막이 있었는데 이번 영상에는 아쉽게도 없네요. 한국 구독자 비율이 그렇게 많지 않을거 같은데도 여태까지 빼놓지 않고 한글 자막을 달아줘서 너무 감사했어요. Spikamovies의 영상을 볼 때면 수많은 디테일과 정교한 편집들 때문에 또 다른 영화 한편을 보는 것 같은 느낌을 받고 아이디어도 많이 얻습니다. 한글 자막이 있든 없든, 업로드가 늦어지든 항상 팬으로서 응원하겠습니다. Have a nice day!! All the love from Korea

[@SpikimaMovies]

안녕하세요! 늘 봐주셔서 감사합니다 :) 방금 자막이 완료되서 올라왔답니다! 보통 자막은 영상 업로드 후 1주일 안에 올라가니 조금 기다리셔야 뜰거에요 ㅠㅠ. 기다려주셔서, 그리고 응원해 주셔서 감사합니다!

[@carpetsmell2523]

For me its not the "deepness" but the volume og empty space. The giant object im afraid of is the giant open empty space.

[@OGM_OriginalGameMusic]

Interesting. So you would be just as scared in a massive black room where you could barely touch the roof as you would in space

[@aarenskov]

MY FAVORITE MOVIE YOOOO

[@TheChugg11]

The terror of the void

[@janestarr79]

I deeply admire your amazing intelligence and how grounded you are with yourself. And I’m someone who rarely admires anything.

[@SolarOax]

Giva a chance to Aniara. I think is worth the time asa exploration of the ways humans could react to a endlessly roaming through space

[@justinholtman]

He was a genius movie maker way ahead of his time

[@Joseph-wh5of]

Go play Elite dangerous Odyssey in VR. If you're afraid of space, this will be nightmare fuel.

[@limited1766]

동굴공포에 대해서도 다뤄주세요! 전 동굴영화 너무 무섭더라구요

[@4evrmind]

could you please review Buffalo '66? I would love to hear you talk about it.

[@KingDetraktos]

5:29 HE’S READING YOUR LIPS!!! HE’S READING YOUR LIIIIPPPSSSS!!!

[@justmeeagainn]

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.

[@terencepaul7475]

Heya, Markiplier recommended your channel and im now hooked, keep being awesome 😁