Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay

Four years after her husband Sam’s death, author Thea Packer struggles with a stalled writing career. While visiting a bookstore with her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Lucy, she is reminded of her debut novel, The Long Way Home. A clerk recalls the book's eerie connection to real life: Sam, a professional tennis player, was killed by a car while running, just like the protagonist’s husband in the novel. Thea is still haunted by the question of why Sam went for a run that day instead of his usual weight training. His death occurred on the same day they heard their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Fearing her writing can manifest reality, Thea has avoided her craft, but she resolves to try again to reclaim her identity.

Living in a guesthouse on the property of her in-laws, Rebecca and William Packer, Thea works as a proofreader at their marketing agency. Her fear is amplified by a nightmare in which a new story she writes causes Lucy to be erased from existence. Her literary agent, Harper Davies, calls with an ultimatum. She pressures Thea to sell her completed but unpublished manuscript, Call of the Void, a story about a child kidnapping for which Thea previously rejected a $500,000 offer. Terrified of the potential consequences for Lucy, Thea refuses. Harper gives her one week to either approve the sale or submit a new book proposal. During a family dinner, Thea mentions the call, but Rebecca is unsupportive, revealing her plan for Thea to eventually take over the family business. Thea explains her fear, which Rebecca dismisses as "nonsense."

Inspired by a bedtime story she tells Lucy, Thea decides to write a romance novel with a happy ending to "trick fate." After getting a puppy for Lucy, Thea takes the dog's discovery of a LEGO astronaut as a sign to make her new hero an astronaut. She writes a proposal, and Harper gives Thea a six-month deadline for the draft. Over a year later, Thea’s new novel, Love You to Mars and Back, is published under her married name. At the launch party, Thea tells her friend Frannie she will finally sign the lease for an apartment in her building. The day after the launch, while Lucy is away on a two-week trip with her grandparents, Thea meets a man named Max Smith at a dog park. When he reveals he is an astronaut, Thea panics and tells him she isn't coping well with the challenges in her life; then, she flees.

Max asks Thea on a date to the Griffith Observatory. Their chemistry is immediate, and Thea notes his resemblance to Sam. On subsequent dates, their connection deepens. At a Barnes & Noble, Thea confesses her entire history to Max, including her long-held superstition and her belief that she may have manifested his appearance in her life. Max is understanding and gives her a rose quartz necklace. Feeling ready to move forward, Thea signs the lease on her new apartment.

During a last-minute podcast interview, the host asks Thea off-limits questions about her past. Feeling confident in her new relationship, Thea answers honestly, revealing the story behind her first book and the fact that she is now dating a real-life astronaut. The interview goes viral, with the media seizing on the detail that Thea believes she has written her own "happy ending". This propels her book onto the New York Times bestseller list, but Thea’s in-laws are furious that the media attention has dredged up the family's painful past. On the morning of a planned family dinner, Max cancels, claiming he has been called away on a secret, week-long mission.

Rebecca runs a background check on Max and finds no record of him. Online rumors circulate that Thea invented the astronaut as a publicity stunt. Her publisher demands she produce Max for an interview, but he has become unreachable. Frannie discovers he was using a burner phone number. Citing concerns for Thea’s mental stability, Rebecca and William send an email threatening to file for temporary guardianship of Lucy. Thea hires a lawyer, who warns her that her case is weak without verifiable proof of Max’s existence. 

At work, Thea’s colleague Coco identifies the necklace from Max as a one-of-a-kind piece she designed and loaned to Thea’s publicist, Bronwyn Worthington. Thea arranges a recorded Zoom call and confronts Bronwyn, who confesses to orchestrating the entire affair as a PR stunt. She hired an actor, Zachary "Max" Keene, to pose as an astronaut to generate buzz for the book, coaching him on Sam’s mannerisms and planting questions with the podcast host. The publisher fires Bronwyn and issues a statement taking full responsibility. Thea and Frannie confront the actor, who apologizes and claims he developed real feelings for her.

At a book event, Thea is reunited with Rosa, the Packers’ former housekeeper. Rosa reveals a long-held secret: On the day Sam died, Rebecca was home and had a furious argument with him after discovering the sonogram photo. She had demanded Thea get an abortion. This argument is why Sam, distraught, went for a run. Rebecca then paid Rosa to leave and lie about the events of that day. Thea confronts Rebecca and William at their office. William, who never knew the truth, is devastated and tells Rebecca to move out. Thea quits her job. She and Lucy move back into the guesthouse to support William. Thea starts therapy with Dr. Field, which leads her to confront her own long-held guilt about her parents' divorce and her sister Callie's death. Thea speaks to her mother about her family's past and slowly begins to heal. Eventually, even William and Rebecca start family therapy with Thea.

On Lucy’s first day of kindergarten, Thea hears her and Sam’s song, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," on the radio. She interprets it as a sign to move on and authorizes Harper to sell Call of the Void. Eighteen months later, Thea attends the movie premiere of Love You to Mars and Back with her supportive, reconciled family. Max/Zach, who stars in the film, makes a public, grand romantic gesture during a Q&A, apologizing to Thea and declaring he will wait for her. He tells the audience he cannot cope without her. Surrounded by her loved ones, Thea realizes she is already happy and whole. She tells Max she might consider a relationship with him, choosing to embrace an unwritten future.