n 1928 in India, a mountain climber (Keanu Reeves) happens upon a large glowing sphere, which knocks him unconscious, awakening to nothing on the side of the mountain. In the present day, Dr. Helen Benson, an astrobiologist at Princeton University, teaches classes and raises her stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) on her own. Preparing dinner this night, she receives an anonymous phone call. Some people are on their way to pick her up. The matter is unknown, but she'll be prepped en route. She's whisked away to an Army facility with a collection of other scientists, where her old colleague Michael Granier (Jon Hamm) fills her in