Starring: Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, B. D. Wong, Janet Montgomery, Trey Tucker
OUR RATING: ★★☆☆☆
Story:
Sci-fi adventure directed by Peter Chelsom. The Space Between Us (2017) follows two teens from different worlds. Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield), the first human born on Mars, is secretly raised in an experimental colony after his astronaut mother dies during childbirth. Sixteen years later, while searching for clues about his father, and the home planet he’s never known, Gardner begins an online friendship with Tulsa (Britt Robertson) who lives in Colorado. When he finally gets a chance to go to Earth, he’s eager to experience all of the wonders he could only read about on Mars, from the most simple to the extraordinary. But once his explorations begin, scientists discover that Gardner’s organs can’t withstand Earth’s atmosphere. Eager to find his father, Gardner escapes the team of scientists and joins with Tulsa on a race against time to unravel the mysteries of how he came to be, and where he belongs in the universe.
Best Quotes
Gardner Elliot: My name is Gardner Elliot, I was born on Mars, but I finally found a reason to go to earth.
Gardner Elliot: You don’t realize how far away you are until there’s someone you want to be near.
Sarah Elliot: Courage is just fear that has said its prayers.
Nathaniel Shepherd: “I want to go to Mars,” I wrote those words when I was twelve years-old. Mars is a planet ready for life. In twenty hours six astronauts will travel to Mars not to visit but to live there!
Nathaniel Shepherd: [referring to the scan of a fetus on the screen] Zero gravity. It’s unchartered territory.
Kendra: [after Gardner is born] His heart will simply not have the strength in the earth’s gravity.
Kendra: He wouldn’t even survive the trip back to earth. So the child remains classified on Mars?
Nathaniel Shepherd: Yes.
Kendra: Gardner is a sixteen year-old boy. He’s met than less than fifteen people in his life. His physical development is at the perfect place to do it.
Nathaniel Shepherd: His heart can’t handle our gravity. It’s too risky!
Kendra: [referring to Gardner] He knows about earth, and he knows it’s all happening without him.
Genesis Director Chen: Bring him home.
Gardner Elliot: What if no one knows I exist? I’m raised by scientists.
'Courage is just fear that has said its prayers.' - Sarah Elliot (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Tulsa: [typing on her computer in class] Study lab is over, I got to go. Talk tomorrow?
Gardner Elliot: I’m not going anywhere.
Tulsa: [chatting with Tulsa online] Once foster care spits me out I’m gone. Nobody’s ever real, you know.
Gardner Elliot: My best friend isn’t even real.
Tulsa: Tell me about it.
Tulsa: [chatting with Tulsa online] Tell me where you’re really from?
Gardner Elliot: Mars. I was born here.
Tulsa: Yeah, sometimes I feel like I’m from a different planet too.
Tulsa: [chatting with Tulsa online] I’m out of here the second I turn eighteen.
Gardner Elliot: I just wish I could go with you.
Gardner Elliot: How am I supposed to act with the people?
'Just because something sounds crazy it doesn't mean it's not true.' - Gardner Elliot (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Gardner Elliot: I want to go to earth.
Nathaniel Shepherd: I’ve got so many questions about Mars.
Gardner Elliot: Not as many as I have about earth. There are so many colors. Can I stay.
Kendra: [referring to Nathaniel] I need you to do more tests.
Gardner Elliot: Nothing’s changed. I want to be out there.
Gardner Elliot: [referring to going to earth] It’s worth it.
'If we all went around just declaring our innermost desires to the exact people we felt them for, well, then we'd all end up happy, or something.' - Tulsa (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Nathaniel Shepherd: [after Gardner runs away from Shepherd’s science facility] We need teams in the airport, Amtrak station.
Nathaniel Shepherd: He can’t survive.
Nathaniel Shepherd: How do we know he’s going to see her?
Kendra: Because she’s the only person he knows on earth and he’s a romantic.
Gardner Elliot: [as he walks passed a girl] Hey, hello.
Girl: Get away from me!
Gardner Elliot: Okay.
Tulsa: So, Gardner, you’re from Mars.
Gardner Elliot: Yeah.
'It's like the malignancy of any secret, it just kept getting worse.' - Nathaniel Shepherd (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Gardner Elliot: [he shows Tulsa a photo of his dad] Tulsa, my mother was an astronaut, she died on Mars giving birth to me. But this is my father. You’re going to help me find him.
Tulsa: Tell me where you’re really from?
Gardner Elliot: Mars!
Tulsa: People have been lying to me my entire life!
Gardner Elliot: Just because something sounds crazy it doesn’t mean it’s not true!
Gardner Elliot: Woh! What is that?
Tulsa: [Gardner looks at confused] It’s just a horse. I’m on a road trip with an insane person.
Gardner Elliot: Where are we going?
Tulsa: You wanted to see the world.
Gardner Elliot: What’s your favorite thing about earth?
Blind Homeless Man: Dreaming.
'Mother Nature doesn't negotiate.' - Nathaniel Shepherd (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Nathaniel Shepherd: Gardner, come with me now!
Gardner Elliot: No. this is my life!
Tulsa: [to Gardner] Get in, we’re taking off!
Gardner Elliot: You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.
Tulsa: You worked that out just like that.
Gardner Elliot: Why wouldn’t I?
Nathaniel Shepherd: His heart can’t handle our gravity! He’s running out of time.
Nathaniel Shepherd: But it’s like the malignancy of any secret, it just kept getting worse. Every time I go over it, what I did, the choices I made, I swear, I couldn’t have done anything else. But that’s not the point. I dealt with the problem. I just had no idea what the solution would do to me. It killed me. And it’s still killing me. I need to make this right.
Tulsa: [seeing Gardner being tested by scientists] He wasn’t lying.
'Right and wrong seem to change when you really need something.' - Tulsa (The Space Between Us) Click To Tweet
Gardner Elliot: [to Tulsa] All my life, I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t feel water. I couldn’t feel a fire. I couldn’t feel wind on my face. And now I can. That’s nothing compared to what I feel with you. I was so scared I wouldn’t know how to be human. You make me human, Tulsa.
Gardner Elliot: Tulsa, what’s your favorite thing about earth?
Tulsa: You are, Gardner.
Tulsa: People don’t go around saying what they feel whenever they feel it. They have guards and shields and other metaphors.
Gardner Elliot: Why?
Tulsa: Because we’re all messed up, and scared, and trying to be something that we’re not. And if we all went around just declaring our innermost desires to the exact people we felt them for, well, then we’d all end up happy, or something.
Gardner Elliot: I wanted to go to Earth. Not just to visit, but to live there. It turns out, people from Earth want exactly the same thing as people from Mars. And I should know, because I’m pretty sure I’m the only one. So far. I don’t know which is better, but here’s what I do know. It’s good to be home.
Trailer: