The birth of a child is a joyful event, but for Shal and Brav, two young naive humans who live in a small commune in the woods, it is also a mystery and moment tinged with sadness.
Opening narration[]
| “ | Throughout history, man has been driven to seek out his origins, to determine whether he's the result of a divine plan or merely the sum of all his yesterdays. But what happens if, at the end of his search, he should discover he's neither. | ” |
Plot[]
After Shal gives birth to a son, the first of the commune to do so, she and the baby are taken away by Mother, a wise alien who acts as a parent to the young people. When her lover Brav is depressed because Shal is gone, Mother orders K'ren to cheer him up by seducing him. However, even when K'ren strips naked in front of him, Brav refuses her out of loyalty to Shal. When the aliens send Shal home without her baby, she asks Brav to help her to rescue the child.
With the knowledge Shal has gained from her time with Mother, they break through the protective barrier set up by the aliens to discover a new and fascinating world. It is a dangerous trip, with stinging, snake-like crawlers lurking in the shadows. But, it is also a journey of discovery as Shal and Brav find evidence—skeletons and body parts—that leads them to believe that their real parents were killed by the aliens. They find their baby, and after a fight with an alien, Shal escapes with their child, but Brav is captured.
Shal takes refuge in an abandoned car, as numerous crawlers overtake her. But Mother comes to her rescue, locating her from the tracking device still on her baby's wrist. Reunited with Brav and their son at the alien obelisk, Mother explains that her alien race arrived on Earth after humanity had gone extinct, from an unspecified disaster. Shal and Brav, along with the other members of the commune, are clones, biologically resurrected from genetic material discovered by the alien archaeologists.
The aliens apologize for being smothering parents and agree to allow Shal, Brav and their infant son to make their own way in the world, under their watchful protection.
Closing narration[]
| “ | Every life is a destination unknown; a journey of tragedies and triumphs that ultimately allows us to discover not only our world, but more importantly, ourselves. | ” |
Cast[]
- James Marsden as Brav (as Jimmy Marsden)
- Emmanuelle Vaugier as Shal
- Camille Mitchell as Mother
- Boyan Vukelic as Roan
- Crystal Cass as K'ren
- Mark Gibbon as Male Vorak