寇克等人作为嘉宾乘新企业号试航，途中收到救援任务……而在另一时空，索伦博士正阴谋毁灭星球，攻击企业号。唯一能够帮助新船长皮卡特来阻止索伦的，只有销声匿迹了78年的寇克船长。

This film follows the life story of Herman Hesse, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946. Hesse was born in Germany on July 2, 1877, and made a vow at the age of 13 that he would be "a poet or nothing". He lived in his adopted land of Switzerland from 1912, until his death in 1962. This deeply philosophic writer was a pacifist, and a student of Jungian psychology, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Spengler, and the Buddhist belief system. His writings, such as "Siddhartha", "Steppenwolf", and "Demian", reflect those influences. These themes made Hesse enormously popular with the counter-culture in America in the late 1950"s and 60's. The film gives insight into events which shaped the character and works of this great author. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, Rovi

艾莉·爱罗维（茱迪·福斯特饰）自幼就对无线电通讯情有独钟。长大后，她成为一名天文学家，其项目内容为接收外太空信号。她希望能借此找到宇宙其他文明的存在。天才的理想得到的却是投资者的冷眼相看，幸好有神秘人帮助艾莉继续工作。
一次偶然的机会，艾莉收到了来自织女星的频率信号，似乎证明了艾莉一直以来的工作是正确的。但这带来的不是她个人事业的成功，而是政治、社会、宗教、国家各个角度的矛盾与讨论。深陷这一切暴风中心的艾莉，更要面对与神职人士帕尔默·乔丝（马修·麦康纳饰）的感情纠葛。
个人与世界，真相与现实，艾莉面临着远远超越学术范围的挑战。