A young boy, inspired by the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, dreams of going up into space. But his dream doesn’t go as planned years later, as he becomes the only survivor of a mission to Mars.

Stranded on the planet, he’s unable to send out any communication and has no way to get back. But he comes across a way to send one last message back to earth — an important photo to inspire others in the future.

Director Andrew Finch creates an ambitious sci-fi journey about what it means to persevere and leave a legacy — even when circumstances look dire or bleak.

Finch was inspired to make his film by an alternate, never-broadcast speech by Richard Nixon, written in case the Apollo 11 crew never returned from the moon in 1969. The speech serves as a jumping-off point for his own exploration of heroism and inspiration, tempered with an elegant sense of elegy and melancholy.

With beautiful cinematography, incredible special effects and stellar production design, this sci-fi short — which took Finch four and a half years to make — is a feast for the eyes, with a visual panache that could easily compete with today’s blockbusters.

But the film’s emotional impact is rooted in the astronaut’s dilemma, the fundamental fear of being alone in the universe — and the inspiration we create to matter in the world, even if we may not live to see the consequences.



