Film Review - The Discovery (2017)

Sub-atomic brain waves leaving to travel to "another plane of existence" upon death. A sharp increase in the suicide rate around the world. The Discovery sets up a confronting situation; there's literally millions of people who are taking their own lives to "go there".

It is a radical idea and offers a bleak image of the world. Funerals every other day in every city, survivors being left behind, on the corporeal plane of existence. The attraction of there as opposed to here. The film presents a raft of what ifs, bobbing against a typically overcast world.

The key question of the film is What is the other plane of existence?, and our protagonist, Will (played by Jason Segel) stops Isla (Rooney Mara) from joining one of the four million dead by their own hands. The film’s pace is meandering, and the unanswered question is, for a world where the consequence of death is a ticket to there, why doesn’t anarchy reign supreme?

The cinematography is lacking saturation and focuses heavily (and a little too obviously) on the blue hues, in order to set mood. Once this settles in, you start to see the desolate world for what it is. More research, a man, lying on a gurney. He dies, and brain scanning equipment whirls in to life. Seconds pass, and the defibrillator charges. The man is resuscitated. Necessary. Research.

The film is creepy, in a charming way; with Will’s father, Robert; the scientist whom discovered the afterlife has the appearance of a cult leader at the complex he runs. Isla enters; and we witness the revelation that the “after life” can be recorded by means of a contraption that has been put together.

The plot (what little there is) heaps mystery upon mystery, as a romance unfolds between Isla and Will. Dead pan delivery of key plot lines make moments believable, but the film fails to evoke the central question what if of the film in as much depth as I would have personally liked to see. I’ve been spoiled by the stellar I Origins in this respect.

”People are just going to keep killing themselves.” The abject horror of this line, delivered late in the film; from a man, who stopped a woman from doing just this is one of the poorest pieces of dialogue in the film; compared to the conversations shared earlier, where tidbits of philosophy, science and challenging cognitive concepts are shared.

There’s no need to rush out and see The Discovery, because it is a Netflix Original. It is worth the watch; if you’re into a science-fiction-drama mixed with a bit of mystery; but it won’t be the best film that you will ever see. It will, however; be much more thought-provoking than anything you could rush out to go and see. It is worth getting through the film for the ending, which conveniently ties everything together well enough. It turns into a bit of a horror show, ala Groundhog Day.