Alexa: One of my favorite movies from our Summer of Netflix series a couple of years ago was “The One I Love,” a strange little movie from director Charlie McDowell and writer Justin Lader that evolved into so much more than I expected. So naturally I was intrigued when their next film, “The Discovery,” bowed at Sundance earlier this year. I’m a sucker for smaller, subtler sci-fi movies so this one hits a lot of my sweet spots. And while I think the more intimate “The One I Love” is ultimately the more effective of the two, “The Discovery” still offers plenty of intriguing insights about the human condition set against an unusual backdrop. The titular discovery refers to scientific proof that an afterlife exists, that our consciousness actually exits our body and goes to another plane when we die. The revelation sparks mass suicides as people become desperate to experience whatever lies ahead in the next life. I won’t spoil exactly what that is, but it presents some thoughtful reflections about the choices we make and where our actions lead us. “The Discovery” is beautifully shot, it’s world meticulously realized and its cast exceptional. Jason Segel proves to be as capable a dramatic leading man as he is a comedian, and Robert Redford is as magnetic as always. His desire to help those impacted by the suicides his discovery prompts is understandable, but the cult-like group it spawns seems unnecessary. It feels like it was shoehorned in to make the atmosphere feel more dystopian when the same points could have been made sans jumpsuits. But despite some flaws, “The Discovery” is a captivating genre piece worth discovering.
Joel: The Discovery comes from a rather simple, but very interesting premise. The idea of an afterlife is, beyond a shadow of a doubt scientifically proven. This isn’t to say that there’s scientific proof of heaven, or hell or whatever specific thing you may think of when you hear the word afterlife, but there is no doubt that “something” exists beyond the moment of death. There’s not a whole lot about how this discovery would impact the world at large. Yes, the movie focuses on the the huge uptick in suicides of people trying to get to afterlife, but nothing is said about The Discovery’s impact on religion, the world economy, or any of the other aspects of our society that would no doubt be impacted by an announcement like this.
Instead, the movie focuses on telling an intentionally small scale story centered around the man who made this discovery (Robert Redford), and his son (Jason Segel) and the next step, learning exactly what the proven, but still mysterious, afterlife is. Redford and Segel are both solid in the movie as is most of the supporting cast. Segel proves that he can pull of a more subtle leading man performance in addition to the broad comedy he is more famous for, while Redford does a good job of building his character through his actions, and the unspoken moments between the dialogue.
The movie doesn’t quite pull off the big meditation on life and the choices that we make that it’s shooting for. It comes very close, and the end product is still something that’s probably worth watching, but in the end the actual plot doesn’t quite fill out the movie, leaving it with a bit of an empty feeling at the end.
Again, this isn’t a bad movie by any means, but it’s hard not to see what's missing while you’re enjoying what’s there.
Chris: This movie is best experienced when you accept the premise don’t get bogged-down in theoretical loopholes because you could easily get lost within those questions and distract yourself from the meat of the film. It’s the premise that hooks you into watching The Discovery but it’s the performances by Jason Segal and Rooney Mara that make this an enjoyable film. When the reveal of the actual output of the machine plays out, I found myself feeling the same way the first time I was introduced to the gimmick of the movie About Time, I really wanted it to be an actual thing but then again, that’s the mindset of the millions of people that committed suicide in the film. It’s an unfortunate outcome to a scientific discovery of an afterlife that I never would’ve thought of; a “way out” in the hopes that whatever is on the other side is better than this side as long as it’s guaranteed to be something on that other side. It’s a beautiful story that I’m sure can be picked apart if you really wanted to dive in and dissect the plot piece by piece but in the off chance you don’t want to do that, it’s a movie that is highly enjoyable.
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