The Discovery
March. 31,2017In the near future, due to a breakthrough scientific discovery by Dr. Thomas Harbor, there is now definitive proof of an afterlife. While countless people have chosen suicide to reset their existence, others try to decide what it all means. Among them is Dr. Harbor's son Will, who has arrived at his father's isolated compound with a mysterious young woman named Isla. There, they discover the strange acolytes who help Dr. Harbor with his experiments.
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So much average
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
This film tells the story of a scientist who discovers that the afterlife exists. He works to prove what the afterlife consists of.The story is pretty heavy, as most characters carry baggages on the shoulders. At times it is a bit slow, but overall it is engaging and keeps me interested in it.
There's a cracking opening scene to this with Robert Redford, who even after all these years still oozes effortless cool. The promising start continues as Roberts makes way for Jason Segal and Rooney Mara with something resembling a Scani noir. This threw me a bit, as my only other encounter with Segal was in The Muppets... and this is not The Muppets. Unfortunately when Redford returns his next scene is a little phoned in, which is a shame as this is a really interesting story and is told rather well. It's carried by Segal and Mara, as well as the creepy Jesse Plemons from the Fargo TV reboot, who really is excellent and brings a palatable tension to the film. The camera is loose, the colour heavily muted, adding nicely to a growing unease and general bleakness. It's a bit of a trudge though in places and the finale has all the subtlety of a straight to TV movie, but that's being a little cruel as this is really pretty good... even Mr Redford has his moments. I'd love to have seen this as a real Scandi noir though, it feels like it needed to go a shade darker. Slightly surprising perhaps considering this was written a directed by Charlie McDowell, son of Malcolm, who certainly has experience with such things.
I believe that casting has a huge part on creating a good movie, that was not one of the cases. Jason Segel?! Really? The boring neighbour who never says anything interesting, the one who talks about the new taxes laws or the weather? No empathy at all with him, all the scenes with him gives me the will to have a break and go check my Instagram. The weirdo brother... Jesse Plemons, boring and very bad acting, please, how interesting would be with Jeremy Davies, the real weirdo-intelectual (!)? It could be an interesting movie, with good actors.
If you're the kind of person who likes to question and ponder things like life, the universe, and everything then this film will sing to your soul. The directing and acting are very good as is the story line. The film dives into the topic of human afterlife and consciousness while providing a little romance along the way. This is the perfect movie for a couple to sit back and enjoy together or even if you're just by yourself.