父亲的突然去世让汤米（安东·尤金 Anton Yelchin 饰）一家人陷入了混乱，家庭无人照料一片狼藉，母亲终日哭泣郁郁寡欢，就在这样一种糟糕的情况下，汤米迎来了自己躁动又不安的青春，无处发泄的他只能通过调皮捣蛋来纾解心中的积怨。辍学后的汤米在一家熟食店打工，负责送货。汤米和朋友帕鲁帕斯（罗宾·威廉斯 Robin Williams 饰）成天厮混在一起，帕鲁帕斯是一个外表成熟但心智幼稚的“大龄儿童”，两人之间的感情真挚又深厚。一次意外中，汤米结识了妓女蕾蒂（Erykah Badu 饰），后者带领他进入了成年人的世界，享受了爱情的甜蜜与苦涩。一场意外的发生摧毁了汤米自由的生活，它不仅终结了汤米的现在，也波及到了他的未来。

高个女人在人们的议论中嫁了个矮个丈夫后，生活上虽遭遇了一些不便，但两人并不觉得有什么，相反还挺恩爱，可是好心的路人甲乙丙丁看他们这一对，越看越别扭。为了使他们的外型看起来协调，有人拿出增高鞋让矮丈夫穿，有人拿出假发让矮丈夫戴，有人拿出特别的衣服让他俩穿，还有人想给他们注射药物——总之，非要他们看起来像那么回事才罢休。几经折腾，夫妻两人终于让旁人满意，可是他们原本的内在协调却失调了。

Once upon a time, the birds and the beasts fought each other in a war. It was a terrible conflict, and the clever bats would side with the birds when the birds were looking victorious, and then they would become allies of the beasts when that side was winning battles. At last the war came to an end, the two parties reached an amicable settlement, and a great party of friendship was held. But when it came to the turn of the bats to perform in the program, their fence-straddling tactics were exposed, and everyone refused to associate with them. Since that time, the bats have been too ashamed to show their faces during the day, coming out only at night to flit silently around.

《重启地球》讲述发生在真实环境中，一群真实的人，他们在末日自救中的真情流露，重点刻画一个普通家庭中的父女关系。影片同时饱含着特别中国化的价值观，比如人定胜天，有坚忍和努力，有牺牲和奉献，众人一起战胜史无前例的灾难。