Swan Song

A film set in the near future. Cameron carries a terminal illness. He has seizures, his wife does not know, and their second child is on the way. A company offers him an option. A copy of him will be made; the copy will carry all his memories, go home, and nobody will know the difference. Cameron goes to a facility to decide. He meets the copy there and they stay together for weeks. From there the film takes place between two men. One has to hand over his life, the other will take possession of a life he never lived. What the narrative is interested in is not technology but jealousy: Cameron watches his own copy working, comforting his wife and playing with his son, and cannot bear it. There is another patient at the facility. Someone who went through the same procedure earlier tells him what happened to her; that line is the best written part of the film. The narrative opens no argument. The question of whether the copy is real is never asked; the film accepts it from the start and is interested only in feeling. Mahershala Ali plays both parts and is opposite himself in most of the scenes. The design is calm. The future is not dark; a world of wood, glass and landscape has been built. It is Benjamin Cleary's first feature; he had previously won an Academy Award for a short film. The production was made for Apple TV+. Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Awkwafina and Glenn Close are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who wants quiet, emotional science fiction. Who it is not for: anyone expecting the idea to be worked through; the narrative leaves its questions unopened and the pace is very low.