Logline:

Jorge, a father thousands of miles away from his son, creates an alternate world- planet b234- where he can cope with the anxiety, depression, and desperation of being separated from one’s child. Geographical barriers are no match for Jorge’s fertile imagination, but it comes at the cost of his sanity and the very relationship he’s fighting for. 

Synopsis:

Jorge and his son, Otto live far apart. After dropping Otto off at his mother’s home in a different state and finding himself utterly alone in his apartment in New York City, Jorge wrestles with loneliness and depression. Via the news, Jorge learns that NASA has discovered a new exoplanet, planet b234, only one light year away, and that they are sending a manned mission to explore it. Jorge turns to the skies with his telescope- something he and Otto can do together while apart. Jorge and Otto make phone-dates to look at the stars through their telescopes, but take turns leaving each other hanging. They’ve become disconnected. As misconnections progress between the two, Jorge develops a meditative ritual to visit planet b234, where he constructs a dream adventure to have the conversations he wishes he could have with his son in real life. In the real world, Otto demands to know why his dad chooses to live far away. As the news reports turbulence and concerning discoveries regarding NASA’s mission to planet b234, Jorge finds his fantasy world harder to control. At the climax of his recurring day-trances, an unexpected inhabitant of planet b234 forces Jorge to choose between the planet and reality. Jorge chooses planet b234, leaving Otto trying to reach his father on the phone, not knowing that Jorge is galaxies away and gone for good.