In 2067, a strange disease is killing crops , sandstorms are frequent, and the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere is decreasing, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. Cooper, a widowed farmer who was formerly an engineer and NASA pilot , lives with his father-in-law Donald, his 15-year-old son Tom, and his 10-year-old daughter Murphy. Murphy believes that his room is haunted by a “ghost” that is trying to communicate with him. Murphy and Cooper discover that the “ghost” is an unknown form of intelligence, trying to send messages to him via gravitational waves , represented by strange dust trails that appear after the sandstorm. These messages, presented in binary code , reveal the coordinates of a secret NASA base, currently led by Professor Brand.

When they arrive at NASA’s base, they are told by Professor Brand that a wormhole was created by a mysterious civilization near Saturn 48 years ago, opening a path to another galaxy that contains 12 potentially habitable planets, located next to a giant black hole called Gargantua. 12 astronauts are sent to explore these planets, each sending a signal back to Earth to see if their planet has the conditions for life. Of the 12 sent, three send a signal back to inform them that their planet meets the conditions for life. These three planets are named after the 3 discoverers: Miller, Mann, and Edmunds.

Professor Brand proposes two options to ensure the survival of humanity. Option A: use gravity to launch giant space stations that cannot be launched by conventional rockets away from Earth, but the solution to the equation to do this is still unfinished; therefore, there will be a backup option B: they will bring 5,000 frozen embryos, starting a process of recreating humanity on a new planet. Professor Brand convinces Cooper to pilot the Endurance station to collect data on living conditions on these three planets to save humanity. Cooper’s decision to participate in this mission hurts his daughter. Murphy tells her father that supernatural forces are sending him a message to stay (STAY). When the two part, Murphy is still angry and refuses to talk to his father.

Joining this mission, in addition to Cooper, there will be Amelia (a biologist, daughter of Professor Brand), Romilly (a physicist), Doyle (a geologist) and two robots with artificial intelligence , TARS and CASE. The whole team departs to the first planet, Millers, which orbits a black hole called Gargantua. The black hole’s gravity causes time dilation on this planet, making it much slower than time on Earth: one hour on Millers lasts seven years on Earth. Cooper, Amelia, Doyle and CASE pilot a small spacecraft away from Endurance, landing on the planet’s surface.

Upon arrival, they discover that the planet is covered in a shallow ocean with giant waves (due to the gravity of the nearby black hole, tidal forces ). While attempting to retrieve Miller’s data, a wave crashes into the spacecraft and crew, killing Doyle and delaying their departure back to Endurance. By the time they return to the Endurance station, more than 23 years have passed. Murphy is now an adult and a scientist working with Professor Brand. Murphy is now aware of his father’s mission and tries to solve Plan A.

However, on his deathbed, Professor Brand confessed to lying to Murphy, saying that he had solved the equation long ago. However, that was only half the answer, they would not be able to get the giant space stations off Earth without more data from the black hole’s singularity . Concluding that humans cannot escape Earth, Professor Brand put all his faith in plan B. This caused Murphy to lose all faith in Cooper because he thought that he knew this in advance and still decided to abandon his loved ones.

Meanwhile, the Endurance’s fuel only allows it to travel to one more planet before returning to Earth. Amelia believes that the data on the planet Edmunds is more promising for life, but the data from this planet has been discontinued for 3 years. Cooper believes that Amelia’s love for Edmunds is influencing his reasoning, so he finally decides that the whole team will go to the planet Mann. When they land on Mann, they find Dr. Mann in a state of hibernation and wake him up. Dr. Mann describes to the team that his planet is completely covered in ice and snow, and the oxygen on the surface is not enough to sustain life, but he has discovered that there is a surface below that is an ideal environment for the development of life.

At the same time, the group receives a message from Murphy from Earth informing Amelia that her father has died, and Murphy also questions whether Amelia and Cooper knew about plan A in advance (after entering the wormhole, Endurance can only receive signals but cannot send them, so Earth has no knowledge of the crew’s journey). The truth is that neither Amelia nor Cooper knows anything about this, but Mann knows and confirms that plan B is the real goal of this plan. Cooper thinks he has completed the mission and decides to leave the group and return to Earth to see his family.

Before leaving, he and Mann go to check the campsite for the group to stay. Mann suddenly removes the communication device and attacks Cooper, breaking his oxygen mask. He confesses that he wanted to be rescued so he falsified the data about the planet he explored. Meanwhile, Romilly dies from a mine explosion (Mann’s trap) while trying to recover Mann’s secret. Mann pilots a spacecraft back to Endurance to go to Edmunds to execute Plan B. Cooper manages to retrieve the radio and calls Amelia for help. Amelia pilots another spacecraft to rescue Cooper and the two return to Endurance just as Mann attempts to connect his spacecraft to the Endurance. Due to a technical error, the docking part loses pressure, killing Mann and partially destroying the Endurance. Cooper then attempts to get the Endurance back into operation.

After learning that Mann cannot sustain life, Cooper decides to go to Edmunds. With very little fuel left, Cooper comes up with the idea of ​​using the gravity of the Gargantua black hole to fly to Edmunds. The Endurance station will use each spacecraft’s fuel to accelerate and cut off the spacecraft when it runs out of fuel. With not enough oxygen left, Cooper decides to fall into the black hole to sacrifice himself so that Amelia can escape, at this point on Earth 51 years have passed.

After cutting loose the ship, Cooper and TARS fall into the Gargantua black hole, but on the other side is a 5th-dimensional space . Time there appears to be a physical dimension allowing Cooper to travel to different points in time in Murphy’s room. Cooper regrets his departure, sending a message to his daughter STAY. Cooper also realizes that this space was created by humans from the future, and they chose Murphy over him to save humanity. The humans of the future created this space so that he could interact with Murphy as a supernatural force, changing the future rather than the past.

Using gravitational waves , Cooper sends the data TARS has collected about the black hole’s singularity to the adult Murphy via Morse code , represented by the shifting hands on the watch he gave his daughter before leaving. Murphy reads the codes, completes Brand’s physics equations, and takes humanity off Earth before it becomes a dead planet. Cooper is later found near Saturn and wakes up on the Cooper Space Station, named after Murphy.

Cooper reunites with his daughter, now very old. On his deathbed, Murphy convinces his father to go find Amelia. Meanwhile, Amelia lands and discovers that Edmunds is dead. She and CASE set up camp and begin Plan B on the planet Edmunds, an ideal planet for life. Following his daughter’s words, Cooper and TARS board the spaceship to find Amelia, opening a new world for humanity.