The Space Between Us

If you were the first human born on Mars, what would be the first thing you’d do upon reaching Earth? If your answer is "stare intensely at a horse while wearing a giant trench coat," then you and Gardner Elliot have a lot in common. Released in 2017, The Space Between Us arrived at a strange crossroads in cinema history. We were just moving past the "YA Dystopia" craze of The Hunger Games and Divergent, and Hollywood was desperately trying to figure out what teenagers wanted next. Apparently, the answer was a high-budget Nicholas Sparks adaptation where the 'distance' is measured in astronomical units instead of social classes.

I watched this film on a Tuesday evening while eating a slightly stale sesame bagel, and the aggressive crunching of the crust was the only thing louder than the movie’s insistent, heart-tugging score. It’s a film that demands you feel something, even if the physics of its plot are held together by little more than cinematic Scotch tape and teenage longing.

Martian Heart, Earthling Problems

The premise is pure "fish out of water" sci-fi. During a mission to colonize Mars, the lead astronaut discovers she’s pregnant, dies during childbirth, and her son, Gardner, is raised in secret by a team of scientists on the Red Planet. Fast forward sixteen years, and Gardner—played with a wonderful, wide-eyed fragility by Asa Butterfield—is a bored teenager with a pen pal in Colorado named Tulsa.

Asa Butterfield is the MVP here. He has this uncanny ability to make his limbs look like they don’t quite belong to him, which is perfect for a character whose bones are too brittle for Earth’s gravity. When he finally makes it to our planet, his performance shifts into a masterclass of physical awkwardness. He walks like he’s perpetually afraid the ground is going to apologize for being there. It’s the kind of earnest, vulnerable acting that keeps the movie from drifting into total parody.

Opposite him is Britt Robertson as Tulsa. In the grand tradition of 2010s cinema, she is the "tough girl with a motorcycle and a chip on her shoulder" who eventually melts when she meets a boy who literally doesn't know what a lie is. Their chemistry is sweet, if a bit predictable. They spend the second half of the film on a road trip that feels more like a tourism ad for the American Southwest than a fugitive flight from NASA, but it’s hard to be mad at a movie that looks this pretty.

A Beautiful, Earnest Mess

Director Peter Chelsom is no stranger to "meant to be" romances—he directed the 2001 classic Serendipity—and he brings that same sense of cosmic fate to this story. However, The Space Between Us struggled to find its footing in a 2017 landscape dominated by the MCU and more cynical, grounded dramas. It’s an incredibly sincere movie, and in a decade where irony became the default setting for most audiences, its total lack of a wink felt almost alien.

The supporting cast is doing a lot of heavy lifting to ground the melodrama. Gary Oldman shows up as Nathaniel Shepherd, the visionary billionaire behind the Mars mission. Oldman plays the role with a frantic, twitchy energy—sort of like an Elon Musk who actually has a soul and drinks way too much espresso. Then there’s Carla Gugino as Kendra, the surrogate mother figure on Mars, who provides the film's most grounded emotional beats. She captures that specific pain of watching a child grow up and move toward a world you can’t protect them from.

The film's central question—"What's your favorite thing about Earth?"—is actually quite lovely. In an era of climate anxiety and political polarization, seeing the world through Gardner’s eyes (the feel of rain, the taste of a burger, the sight of a balloon) is a gentle reminder to appreciate the mundane. It’s just a shame the script by Allan Loeb eventually devolves into a series of "the secret father" tropes that feel pulled from a daytime soap opera.

The Cult of the Misunderstood Flop

While the film was a massive box office disappointment—earning back less than half of its $30 million budget—it has found a second life among the "comfort watch" crowd. There’s a certain charm to its flaws. For instance, Gardner’s health crisis (his heart is too large for Earth’s gravity) is a metaphor so subtle it could hit you in the face with a planetary rover.

If you’re a fan of behind-the-scenes trivia, you’ll appreciate the effort that went into the "Earthly" transition. To prepare for the role, Asa Butterfield actually wore weighted vests and shoes during rehearsals to simulate the feeling of Earth’s gravity being three times heavier than what he was "used to." Also, the sleek "Genesis" headquarters in the film isn't a set—it’s actually Spaceport America in New Mexico, the real-world hub for Virgin Galactic.

The movie was also victim to some truly cursed timing. It was originally slated for a December 2016 release but was pushed back to February 2017 to avoid being vaporized by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Even with the delay, it couldn't find its audience. But for those who stumble upon it on a streaming service late at night, it offers a specific kind of cozy, high-concept escapism. It’s not a "good" movie in the academic sense, but it is a deeply likable one.

The Space Between Us is the cinematic equivalent of a puppy tripping over its own paws—clumsy, slightly embarrassing, but impossible to truly dislike. It’s a drama that shoots for the stars and lands somewhere in the middle of a very pretty New Mexico desert. If you’re in the mood for a film that values sincerity over logic, it’s worth the trip. Just make sure your bagel isn't as stale as some of the dialogue.