The Discovery (2017)

Two years after the afterlife is scientifically proven, a man attempts to help a young woman break away from her dark past.

Director:

Charlie McDowell

Writers:

Charlie McDowell, Justin Lader

Stars:

Robert Redford, Mary Steenburgen, Brian McCarthy

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Redford	...	Thomas
Mary Steenburgen	...	Interviewer
Brian McCarthy	...	Sound Recordist
Jason Segel	...	Will
Rooney Mara	...	Isla
Jesse Plemons	...	Toby
Ron Canada	...	Cooper
Riley Keough	...	Lacey
Connor Ratliff	...	Coroner
M.J. Karmi	...	Janice (as MJ Karmi)
Kimleigh Smith	...	Hospital Receptionist
Willie C. Carpenter	...	Hospital Janitor (as Willie Carpenter)
Wendy Makkena	...	Mom
Adam Khaykin	...	Oliver (as Adam Morrison Khaykin)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lindsay Schnebly	...	Newscaster

Storyline

Writer-director Charlie McDowell returns to Sundance this year with a thriller about a scientist (played by Robert Redford) who uncovers scientific proof that there is indeed an afterlife. His son is portrayed by Jason Segel, who's not too sure about his father's "discovery", and Rooney Mara plays a mystery woman who has her own reasons for wanting to find out more about the afterlife.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | alternative reality | afterlife | mouth organ | electric guitar | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was originally written to take place in a sleepy rural town area. Director Charlie McDowell and his team eventually rewrote the movie to fit the Newport, Rhode Island location because of how much they fell in love with the visuals in the area.

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Goofs

When Will saves Isla, she tells him: "You were supposed to be the last person I ever spoke to.". But after they talked while she was hitchhiking, she got a ride, so the last person Isla talked to should be the driver, at least to tell him where she was going to (even is she might be meaning that Will was "the last person she had a significant conversation with").

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Quotes

[first lines]
Interviewer: Dr. Harber, before we're live, I just wanted to say thank you for choosing me.
Thomas: [warming up his voice] Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Interviewer: The rich history you have with other journalists...
Thomas: I chose you precisely because we don't have a history. Now, don't fuck it up.
Producer: Fifteen seconds...

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jason Segel/Lilly Singh/Brian Regan (2017)

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Soundtracks

Arrival in Nara
Written by Joe Newman, Thom Green and Gus Unger-Hamilton
Performed by Alt-J
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. / Canvasback Music
Courtesy of Infectious Music Ltd.
By arrangement with Warner Music Film & TV Licensing
By arrangement with BMG Rights Management (US) LLC

User Reviews

If you love low budget sci-fi with interesting ideas - this is a miss for you

They bait you into thinking that this will provide for some interesting ideas for you to reflect on, but nope.

The main problem is that the story doesn't hold. I mean, the message of the movie is good and inspiring, but the story is just a mess that is full of holes.

They just took one good old movie and re-told it slightly adjusting the focus. I won't spoil it for you so check this out if you're interested anyways.

But be warned, this movie is slow and packs quite a run time. What's more interesting is that they actually stretch it out intentionally, it has a lot of unnecessary scenes they should've cut and it wouldn't hurt the movie. Probably they had a run time to meet or something.

The dialogue is often forced, some scenes are written so badly they are barely believable. Also, the lead seriously underperforms, his acting is unconvincing and he is unable to deliver emotional moments (you'll see).

If you're a hardcore sci-fi fan, the ending will disappoint you (mostly because of how random it is). But you will know long before that the movie is going nowhere.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Discovery

Filming Locations:

Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Endgame Entertainment, Netflix, Protagonist Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1