In the 1972 film Solaris, the planet covered by a sentient ocean is named Solaris.
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, Solaris is based on Stanisław Lem’s 1961 science-fiction novel. The story follows psychologist Kris Kelvin, who travels to a research station orbiting the mysterious planet after its scientists begin reporting disturbing phenomena.
Solaris’s vast ocean is not merely a geographical feature. It behaves like an immense alien intelligence, producing strange formations and material “visitors” based on the memories and guilt of people aboard the station. Kelvin encounters a replica of his deceased wife, Hari, forcing him to confront grief, responsibility, and the limits of human understanding.
The film uses the planet as both a scientific mystery and a philosophical mirror. Its central question is not simply whether humans can explore another world, but whether they can communicate with a form of life whose nature is radically unlike their own. Polaris is a different star, Proxima is a nearby stellar system, and Altair is another star; none is the oceanic planet in Solaris.