The new film, The Discovery, was directed by Charlie McDowell in Newport, Rhode Island. The film stars Rooney Mara, Jason Segel, and Robert Redford. This independent romantica science fiction movie deals with compelling thoughts regarding death, the meaning of life, desires and regret and has an underlying love story that develops throughout the plot.
The beginning of the film opens with an interview with Dr. Thoman Harbor, played by Redford, who was the man that scientifically discovered proof of the existence of the afterlife which led to an incredibly high suicide rate worldwide. When the interviewer asks Thomas if he feels responsible for the death of millions of people, he says no and a crew member immediately kills himself in the middle of the interview. Thomas’s son, Will, played by Segel, visits home. On the trip back, he meets Isla, played by Mara. while discussing the discovery and the afterlife, Will notes how familiar she looks, which creates a foreshadowing feeling, even if the audience does not quite pick up on it right away. Will shares a memory of when he was little and he was dead for about a minute. He recalls seeing himself on a beach with a little boy and was able to describe it when it came back to life. When will gets to his new living quarters in a large mansion (where a few people live under the care of Thomas) with his brother, he sees his father attached to a machine where he is to be killed and revived. Will sees this and blames his father for all of the suicides. Later on in the movie, will is walking on a beach and sees Isla filling a backpack with weights and walking into the ocean looking as if she is going to drown herself. Will then brings Isla to the mansion. As the plot furthers, the team attempts to use a dead corpse to see what happens in the afterlife but it is unsuccessful until Will comes across the machine a little later and sees a recording of the dead man driving to and walking around a hospital. He finds the hospital and does a little investigating. After he and Isla look more into it, they discover that the dead man had a different tattoo on his arms in the recording than he did when they saw him in person. This leads to more questions about the truth about the afterlife. In a final, desperate attempt to get an answer, Thomas hooks himself up to the machine. Will and his brother see a recording come up on the screen of the night that their mother killed herself, except that this time Thomas stops her. When he revived, he confirms that the afterlife is an alternate platform of our current existence. While addressing the mansion about destroying the machine, Isla is shot and she dies in Will’s arms. This prompts him to secretly hook himself up to the machine which takes him back to the ferry with Isla where the two of them discuss the whole concept of how the afterlife works. The conclusion of the plot shows Will on a beach saving the life of Oliver, Isla’s son.
This movie had fantastic elements of mise-en-scene. Included in this, costume design and and setting strongly enhanced the themes of the story. The costume design in this film was exceptionally unique. Characters like Will and Thomas were dressed in very moderate colors and layers. The outfits for them were not extravagant and mainly consisted of dark jeans and blend sweaters. This contributed to the overall feel and setting of the movie as it was very dreary and bleak. As the storyline and plot of the film is quite dark as it contemplates death and what happens after it. This correlates with the wardrobe of those characters. The people living in the mansion were assigned to wear colored, though dull, jumpsuits. These jumpsuits were unifying among the people that were working forward from their suicide attempt. This type of order went along with Thomas’s idea of keeping the world mildly in the dark about what he knew about the afterlife. Additionally, many of those who did not stay in jumpsuits were the ones that did not follow that order and were not in the dark. Isla was the exception to this as she also wore additional clothing to her jumpsuit. Costume design is a meticulous way to add to the feeling of a film. The costume designer for this movie did an exquisite job of bringing the costumes relevance to the mood of the film to life.
Much like costume design, setting also played an important role. In the beautiful town of Newport, Rhode Island, the setting was perfect for the mood of this movie. During the “off season” of Newport, the months were dreary with mist and clouds that set the tone for the plot of the film. The environment was filled with greys and blues that contributed to the sadness and confusion of the plot. The mansion that much of the film took place at was also very dark in color and did not have lavish or colorful furniture or decorations. As the people living in it and the time period, the living space was not very luxurious. Had the movie been set in a place that was sunny and filled with optimistic, bubbly people, the viewers would not have been able to feel as though they can put themselves in what the characters are feeling. McDowell had a great eye in deciding when and where the film was shot. It gave more meaning to the plot and dreary emotions that it provoked.
Overall, The Discovery was a fantastic film with great actors and directing. The costume design and setting contributed and developed the plot and sense of the movie. While this movie was a science fiction that discussed life, death, the afterlife, desires, and regrets, there was an underlying love story between Will and Isla that drew the viewers in even more without them realizing it. With all that the actors, producers, and director put into this film, it was a genuinely exceptional piece of art.
