Year: 2022
Runtime: 72 mins
Language: Spanish
Director: Amat Vallmajor del Pozo
In a post‑apocalyptic Basque Country, unemployed archaeologist Txomin receives a commission to write an expert report on Mars. He and his frail brother Gene set off from Eibar on a surreal road‑trip across northern Spain, joined later by their sister Mila after a toxic mist derails their route. Old family grievances surface, and with the aid of spectral figures and even a vision of Jesus Christ, the brothers press on to fulfill their Mars mission.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Mission to Mars (2022), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
In 2020, a high-stakes Mars I mission is launched to push the boundaries of human presence on the red planet, with the crew led by a capable commander. As the team reaches the Cydonia region, they stumble upon a striking white formation that seems almost otherworldly. Their first readings suggest it might be the product of a subsurface geothermal process that could one day support human colonization. The discovery quickly becomes the focal point of their mission, and they relay the information to the Earth-orbiting World Space Station as they prepare to investigate more closely.
What begins as a routine examination rapidly takes a strange turn. While the engineers monitor the formation, a faint, unsettling hum threads through the通讯 channels, growing louder as power is dialed up. Initially, radar insists the structure is metallic, but when the crew intensifies the signal, a colossal vortex erupts from the formation. The vortex proves deadly, severing contact and taking the lives of everyone on site except for the mission lead, who is left to confront the mystery alone. In the aftermath, the structure is revealed to be far more than a mere anomaly: a colossal humanoid face emerges from the dust, marking a moment of awe and unease for anyone who witnesses it.
The event triggers a powerful electromagnetic pulse that disrupts Earth-to-space communications, while a distress message arrives from the lone survivor. Realizing that the pulse could have disabled the Earth Return Vehicle’s systems, the space agency makes a bold decision: the Mars II mission, already en route, must pivot to a rescue operation. Months pass, and the rescue team—comprising a seasoned commander, his spouse, a recent widower, and a skilled technician—embark on a perilous journey to Mars orbit. However, the mission quickly encounters a cascade of misfortunes. Satellite imagery of the formation area is swallowed by static, micrometeoroids breach exterior fuel lines, and the engines fail in a catastrophic explosion. The crew is forced to abandon the Mars II, venturing out in their spacesuits toward a nearby Resupply Module.
In a harrowing sequence, one crewmate sacrifices himself to save another. Stranded and separated, the remaining astronauts endure the brutal realities of space travel and Mars’ harsh environment, ultimately arriving on the planet’s surface to begin the painstaking repair of the Earth Return Vehicle. It is during this tense interlude that they encounter a survivor living in a greenhouse—a person who has kept faith in a future on Mars. This survivor, who has witnessed the enigmatic formation from within, shares images of the face and reveals a cryptic truth: the low-frequency pulses they heard were actually a three-dimensional model of human DNA, but something crucial is missing—a second chromosome pair.
With this revelation, the team realizes they must complete the genetic sequence to satisfy a test embedded within the structure. A plan forms: they send a rover to broadcast the completed sequence via radar, hoping to unlock the mystery’s next phase. The strategy works, and an enormous opening emerges on the side of the colossal formation. Time is short, as a massive dust storm barrels toward them, threatening to trap everyone inside the newly opened cavity. The group—two remaining astronauts and the greenhouse survivor—decide to venture inside.
Inside, they encounter a breathtaking sequence of revelations. A three-dimensional projection of the Solar System unfolds, showing a Martian world once rich with water that was struck by a catastrophic asteroid and rendered uninhabitable. A second projection reveals a Martian lifeform, one that has watched over the planet’s exodus as its people evacuated in ships. These beings had seeded Earth with DNA, hoping to plant the seeds of life that would one day recognize Mars as a shared ancestral home. The Martians extend an invitation to one of the humans to accompany them to their new home, a proposition that carries immense weight and consequence.
One member of the team accepts the invitation, bidding a quiet farewell to the others before stepping into a compact capsule. Back on the surface, the remaining duo races toward the Earth Return Vehicle, trying to outrun the encroaching storm. Just as the storm closes in, the chosen one’s capsule launches toward the Martian fleet, finally slipping away in a path that seems to trace the ancient voyage of those alien visitors who once seeded two worlds. The surviving pair barely escapes the dust storm and returns to space, where their mission evolves into an unprecedented rendezvous between human explorers and a distant, alien future.
Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:23
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