Robert Dinkins, Jr.
A&E Editor
Trigger Warning: This article discusses suicide.
The Discovery first premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and landed on Netflix on March 31. Directed by Charlie McDowell, best known for the film The One I Love, The Discovery is a film tackling a lot of different genres. Is it Sci-Fi, romance, horror or an adventure fantasy? This mixing of genres could have created a totally unique movie, but with the attempt to combine so many different ideas, it sells itself short by not narrowing its focus on one theme.
The basic plot consists of a scientist discovering strong but not definitive proof of an afterlife. After publishing his findings, many people choose to live this life and pass on to the afterlife by committing suicide. This causes the movie to rely heavily on the storyline and characters, which are not all that good.
The main characters, Will Harbor, played by Jason Segel, and Isla, played by Rooney Mara, do not seem to have much chemistry together on the screen. Often times, I wondered what Will saw in Isla and vice versa. They seem to be two different types of people on two different spectrums but are somehow attracted to each other in the film. Even though their chemistry is not great, the movie uses the two to place the audience in a huge battle about mortality and morals. Is it right that a person should kill themselves in order to enjoy the possibility of the afterlife? Things become even more complicated when there is no definite proof for the afterlife.
McDowell is able to present the hard topic of suicide along with presenting the emotional toll it takes on those who are left behind. Using a small group of main characters, McDowell is able to capture the struggle that many people experience when battling suicidal thoughts.
Along with character development, the soundtrack for the movie is great. McDowell calls on composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans to create an amazing complimentary soundtrack. Having a good soundtrack on a movie or tv show is like having great background music for studying. It allows the listener to seamlessly focus on whatever is in front of them. I do not know about you, but I cannot and will not listen to Nickelback while studying for a philosophy test, it just won’t work. Bensi and Jurriaans are able to prevent the massive headache with smooth tracks throughout the movie.
Unfortunately as I pointed out, the movie does attempt to do too much. Perhaps if the movie was longer, it would allow for better explanations of what is actually going on. This ambiguity is crazy considering the movie is already close to two hours long. You would have to watch the movie a couple of times to actually understand all the things that are going on. Still, McDowell was able to take on a great idea concerning a question many people struggle to answer: should one commit suicide to reach the afterlife? This movie is still great for those interested in a powerful storyline that will make you question a lot of things as the credits roll. Perhaps this movie could be rediscovered in fifty years; hopefully this article will be too, and it could become a staple in the sci-fi genre. Until then, I’ll stick with a strong six out of ten. You can watch this movie on Netflix — check it out when you get the chance.