Space Between Us, The
Entry updated 12 October 2026. Tagged: Film.
US film (2017). STX Films. Directed by Peter Chelsom. Written by Richard Barton Lewis, Allan Loeb, and Steven Schill (story); Loeb (screenplay). Cast includes Gil Birmingham, Asa Butterfield, Carla Gugino, Janet Montgomery, Gary Oldman, Britt Robertson, and B W Wong. 121 minutes; colour.
Entrepreneur Nathaniel Shepard (Oldman) launches the first expedition to Mars, commanded by Sarah Elliot (Montgomery). Unknown to everyone, Shepard has been having an affair with Elliot, leading to her unexpected pregnancy during the flight. After reaching Mars, Elliot dies while giving birth to Gardner Elliot (Butterfield), so he grows up on Mars with astronaut Kendra Whigham (Gugino) as his foster mother; his existence is not revealed to the public because it would be a scandal that could damage the space programme. Now a teenager, he establishes an online relationship with Tulsa (Robertson), a girl living in a foster home who is unaware he is on Mars. (The film has them communicating instantaneously, ignoring the fact that there would actually be time gaps of several minutes in any conversations between Earth and Mars.) Despite the fact that Shepard forbids it, the astronauts decide that Gardner should visit Earth, even though it would be hazardous to his health. Once on Earth, Gardner escapes from confinement and connects with Tulsa, and they embark on a quest to find his father, assisted by the shaman who married Shepard and Elliot (Birmingham). Soon Gardner is dying because of conditions on Earth and is rushed to a hospital before he is finally transported to Earth orbit to be returned to Mars; he has also figured out that Shepard is his father. Kendra adopts Tulsa, who is preparing to travel to Mars, while Gardner and Shepard are now living together on Mars.
One wonders if the film's writers were familiar with Robert A Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), since the two stories share many similarities (though Heinlein's child is raised on Mars by Martians, not human astronauts). If so, they deliberately ignored all of the controversial aspects of Heinlein's novel to produce a family-friendly and heartwarming story of a young man who finds love and reconciles with an absent father. Also, while it would have been more interesting to provide additional scenes showing the pioneering Mars colony (see Colonization of Other Worlds), the film devotes most of its time to Gardner's sojourn on Earth, enlivened by routine cinematic violence (explosions, car crashes), chase sequences, and contrived conflicts between the two young lovers. There also could have been a greater focus on Gardner's reactions to the novel environment of Earth, though there are interesting scenes of Gardner staring in wonder at a caterpillar and a horse; another illuminating contrast is provided by Arthur C Clarke's Imperial Earth (1975), in which extended attention is given to the startled responses to Earth of a visitor raised on Titan (see Outer Planets). However, the filmmakers' priority was clearly to shoehorn into the plot as much action as possible. Yet despite their efforts, the film was not a success. [GW]
links
previous versions of this entry