“The Space Between Us” is a film directed by Peter Chelsom and released on Feb. 3, 2017. It stars Asa Butterfield as Gardner, the first human to be raised on Mars, and Britt Robertson as Tulsa, a wild teenager living in Boulder, Colo.

The storyline seemed fairly simple: Butterfield is the son of an astronaut sent on a mission to colonize Mars, but his mother dies during childbirth. He therefore uses advanced technology to meet Robertson, a rowdy, people-hating teenage girl living in Colorado. Through interplanetary space travel, they manage to meet and try to find Butterfield’s father through an epic cross-country road trip.

First, despite both main actors boasting an extensive acting background, their performance was awkward and sometimes over the top. With no chemistry together and a large age gap in real life, Butterfield and Robertson’s relationship seemed forced and uncomfortable. Butterfield’s execution was sometimes hard to watch. His character’s staggered gait made sense, due to his body not being used to Earth’s gravity, but his general strangeness was overdone and spurred a sense of secondhand embarrassment.

Robertson’s character was short-tempered and angry, and Robertson’s acting didn’t help make her character any more likeable. A typical cynical, quirky and weird-talent-holding main girl lead, Roberston often acted with a dramatic flair and streak of meanness that made you feel sorry for Butterfield.

Though the scientific aspects of the movie were pretty well researched, the fact that Butterfield’s character was even born was a huge head-scratcher: how did the head astronaut in a huge space expedition become pregnant without anyone noticing? For sure, the astronauts chosen for the expedition underwent multitudes of test to make sure their bodies were capable enough to survive Mars.

Many unbelievable stunts were added to the movie to make it more interesting, but in this case the storyline was unique enough that those weren’t necessary. Things like flying a biplane, stealing four different vehicles, never paying for anything, spending the night in a canyon and going to Las Vegas were scenes that added nothing but a sense of disbelief and unrealness to the movie.

Anyone with morals shouldn’t watch this movie. Butterfield and Robertson traveled across America in stolen vehicles, including her foster father’s biplane, stalked people in a diner to use their tablet and destroyed a random barn. But if you enjoy an over exhausted plot, tense acting and unnecessary wild scenes, head over to your nearest movie theater.

– Ponette Kim – Staff Writer –