The first human born on Mars travels to Earth for the first time, experiencing the wonders of the planet through fresh eyes. He embarks on an adventure with a street-smart girl to discover how he came to be.
In this interplanetary adventure, a space shuttle embarks on the first mission to colonize Mars, only to discover after takeoff that one of the astronauts is pregnant. Shortly after landing, she dies from complications while giving birth to the first human born on the red planet - never revealing who the father is. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Gardner Elliot - an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who reaches the age of 16 having only met 14 people in his very unconventional upbringing. While searching for clues about his father, and the home planet he's never known, Gardner begins an online friendship with a street smart girl in Colorado named Tulsa. 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.—STX Entertainment
When a female astronaut who was sent on a mission to establish a colony on Mars, discovers she's pregnant after leaving the Earth and went in to labor when they arrived on Mars and died giving birth. Her son who would be named Gardner would grow up on Mars and they fear that being born on Mars; his physiology would be different and not withstand being on Earth, so they don't allow him to leave Mars. Gardner would be well educated and be a genius. He would want to know about his mother, the planet she's from and who his father is. He would get her personal effects in storage and finds a picture of her with a man whom he thinks is his father. He also would chat with a girl named Tulsa who's a foster child who's frustrated with just being a source of income for her foster parents. He would tells her some lame story of being sick and not being able to go to her in person. Kendra, his guardian, asks for permission to let Gardener go to Earth but Nathanniel Shepherd, the man who built the Mars colony and who was with Gardner's mother when she died and thinks it's dangerous for him. But he's overruled and Gardner comes to Earth and likes what he sees. When they do some tests on him, he senses they're going to send him back to Mars but he wants to see Tulsa and find his father. So he bolts. When they learn he's gone, Shepherd is desperate to find him but why is he worried about him or is he trying to keep his existence a secret. He finds Tulsa and she's not pleased to see him at first because he stopped talking to her for months--when he was coming to Earth. When Shepherd and Kendra find him, they run and try to find his father. And his heath gets worse.—[email protected]
Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield), a 16-year-old boy who was the first person born on Mars, copes with his isolated existence on the red planet by striking up an online flirtation with a girl who lives in Colorado named Tulsa (Britt Robertson). Gardner eventually decides to travel to Earth in order to meet Tulsa and find out who his father is, only to discover that his body might not be able to handle Earth's gravity.
In the near future, Nathaniel Shepard, CEO of Genesis, launches the first ever mission to colonize Mars. During the journey, the lead astronaut, Sarah Elliot, discovers that she is pregnant. Shortly after landing, she dies while giving birth to the first human born on Mars. The father of the child is unknown. In a dilemma, Nathaniel eventually decides to keep the child on Mars as a secret, to avoid a PR disaster for his company and also keep the child safe. Sixteen years later, Sarah's son, Gardner Elliot, has grown up into an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who has only ever met 14 people in his very unconventional upbringing. One day, in order to find out more about his mother, he hacks into Centaur, a robot he helped build, to gain access to the ship's storage. There, he retrieves his mother's items. Among them are a wedding ring and a USB drive, from which he plays a video of her and a man in a beach house. Convinced that the man is his father, he becomes determined to find him..
In the near future, Nathaniel Shepard (Gary Oldman), CEO of Genesis, launches the first ever mission to colonize Mars. During the journey, the lead astronaut, Sarah Elliot (Janet Montgomery), discovers she is pregnant. Shortly after landing, she dies from complications while giving birth to the first human born on Mars. The father of the child is unknown. In a dilemma, Nathaniel eventually decides to keep the child on Mars as a secret, to avoid a PR disaster for his company (Since the child was incubated in zero g for its entire birth, Nathaniel is afraid that it would be a freak of nature. Likely the weak heart and bones of the baby would never survive the trip back to Earth and Genesis would be blamed for it, bringing the Mars program to an end).
16 years later, her son, Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield), has grown into an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who has only ever met 14 people in his very unconventional upbringing. One day, in order to find out more about his mother, he hacks into Centaur, a robot he helped build, to gain access to the ship's storage. There, he retrieves his mother's items. Among them, a wedding ring and a USB drive, from which he plays a video of her and a man in a beach house. Convinced that the man is his father, he becomes determined to find him.
Gardner logs on to an Internet chat-room, where he has struck up an online relationship with Tulsa (Britt Robertson), a street-smart girl from Colorado who is constantly being shuffled from one foster home to the next. Under the guise of being confined to a penthouse, due to Osteogenesis Imperfecta, they discuss their plans for the future. Gardner promises to come see her, someday. His mother figure, astronaut Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino), video calls Nathaniel and Genesis director Tom Chen (B. D. Wong), to inform them of Gardner's extraordinary intelligence and to beg them to allow him to return to Earth. Nathaniel refuses, as Gardner would have to undergo a highly risky surgery to increase his bone density, and then train to adapt to Earth's atmospheric pressure. Gardner undergoes the surgery anyway, and after training, he, Kendra, and some other astronauts aboard a space shuttle for Earth.
On the day of the space shuttle's arrival, Nathaniel discovers that Gardner is on board. He angrily confronts Tom, who hid this from him. Despite his anger, Nathaniel visits Gardner, who is being quarantined in NASA while undergoing medical tests to determine whether he is fit for life on Earth. After a visit from Kendra, Gardner manages to discover that he is not fit for life on Earth. Upset, he stages a daring escape and hitches a ride to find Tulsa. Upon seeing him, Tulsa hits him as she is upset at Gardner for 'ghosting' her for 7 months.
However, she forgives him, and he convinces her to help him find his father. They stop by her house to get supplies for the journey but are found by Nathaniel and Kendra. While trying to convince him to return, Gardner angrily confronts Kendra with her own admission of not wanting children, and escapes with Tulsa on an old plane her foster father was working on. The plane abruptly runs out of gas while still in the sky. Tulsa manages to crash-land the plane into an old, abandoned barn, causing a fiery explosion. They escape safely to a diner where they determine the location of the shaman that married Gardner's parents, Shaman Neka (Gil Birmingham).
Believing that Gardner has died, a grieving Nathaniel and Kendra let out their rage at one another. After discovering that no bodies were found in the wreckage, they receive some devastating news - Gardner's body contains dangerously high levels of Troponin, meaning that he has an enlarged heart. His heart is unable to stand Earth's atmospheric pressure, and so Gardner must be returned to Mars immediately if he is to survive. The search is resumed with renewed fervor, and they discover CCTV footage of Gardner and Tulsa in a supermarket parking lot, where they have bought clothes and supplies for the journey. During the journey, Gardner tells Tulsa the truth - that he was born and raised on Mars. Unwilling to accept the truth, she forces him out of the car but forgives him once he promises never to lie to her again, although she still does not believe him.
At night, they camp out under the stars, where they kiss and have sex. In the morning, they are discovered by a follower of Shaman Neka and are brought to him. He agrees to help them. Gardner's nose starts bleeding, a fact he conceals while Tulsa accesses the records to get the location of the beach house, which is in New California.
Before they begin their journey, they make a detour to Las Vegas. Gardner's nose starts to bleed again and he collapses. After undergoing emergency surgery at a hospital, Tulsa tells Gardner she now believes he was born on Mars, but plans to leave him in the hospital, before foster care can come, as he is too sick to continue their journey. Gardner reveals that he knows he won't last anymore on Earth, and all he wants is to meet his father before he dies. Tulsa gives in and helps him escape. They steal a car and drive to the beach house.
There, they meet the man from the video, who reveals that he is not Sarah Elliot's husband, but her brother. However, he thinks that the two are lying to him. Gardner runs down to the sea, where he tells Tulsa that this is where he wants to die. He collapses. Tulsa tries frantically to drag him to the shore, but he is too heavy for her. Nathaniel and Kendra arrive just in time to save him. While Nathaniel performs CPR on him, Gardner asks him about his mother, and reveals that he knows Nathaniel is his real father. Nathaniel, Kendra, and Tulsa rush Gardner to a Dream Chaser. They plan to launch into the stratosphere to stabilize him. When that proves to not be enough, a desperate Nathaniel takes control and launches into outer space. Miraculously, this suicidal mission works, and Gardner is revived.
Soon, Gardner boards a space shuttle to Mars. Tulsa and Gardner have an emotional parting. Kendra, who is staying on Earth to train astronauts for Mars, adopts Tulsa. Determined to join Gardner on Mars, Tulsa joins Kendra's program. Back on Mars, with his father Nathaniel, Gardner enjoys life.
