Review: The Discovery
The Discovery begins with Robert Redford's Dr. Thomas Harper as he begrudgingly agrees to a television interview about his compelling and dangerous discovery. Harper has found evidence that proves there is an afterlife or, as he prefers to describe it, "a new plane of existence." As a result of this, the suicide rates have increased, with people unhappy over their current lives believing they can start over in the next life by killing themselves. Though the interviewer presses if feels in any way responsible for the millions of deaths, Harper adamantly affirms that he is not before being shocked by one of the camera crew shooting himself in the head right before his eyes.
Cut to 18 months later. It is the second anniversary of Harper's discovery. Suicides have skyrocketed. Harper himself has been a recluse since the television interview, holing himself up inside a gothic mansion populated by his followers, the majority of whom are failed suicidees who have been given a new purpose in life by Harper. Harper's son Will (Jason Segel), a neurologist whose near-death childhood experience inspired his father's lifelong work, has come to the estate to convince his father to stop what he's doing and tell everyone he was wrong. Yet Harper has made another breakthrough - crafting a device that can record the afterlife - and he is not about to discredit himself or his work now.
Will is dragged into his father's latest experiments out of curiosity and guilt but primarily because of Isla (Rooney Mara), a mysterious woman whom he initially meets on the ferry on the way to the island and then later encounters as she attempts to drown herself in the waters. Whether Will and Isla's exchanges are meant to directly recall, are inspired by, or coincidentally resemble the central lovers of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is they do in more ways than the narrative initially suggests. Will is cocooned in the belief that "Reality and fantasy are mutually exclusive. They don't exist in the same space." Isla may be more open-minded, but she also doesn't seem to care very much about very many things or people, though Will may be an exception based on her increasingly amorous gestures.
Alternate realities, second chances, and righting regrets fuel this sophomore effort from director Charlie McDowell and co-writer Justin Lader. These themes were also the focus of their intriguing debut film, The One I Love, which also observed the interplay between fantasy and reality under the guise of a romantic comedy. The Discovery is a headier and more ambitious affair and, for the most part, the filmmakers are able to fulfill the potential of their premise though audiences may be divided over both the journey and the destination its characters traverse. In many respects, it seems to glance at rather than explore the (pre)destined entanglements between Will and Isla, which is a slight shame especially since Mara portrays a character not quite as serious as her previous roles.
Individually, Segel and Mara are solid; together, they make for an often morbidly comic duo. There's fine supporting work from Jesse Plemons as Harper's other, more blindly devoted son as well as Riley Keough and Ron Canada as Harper's chief devotees. Redford is outstanding as the prickly Harper, sharing most valuable player laurels with cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, whose icily elegant lensing lends an otherworldly pallor to the proceedings.
The Discovery
Directed by: Charlie McDowell
Written by: Charlie McDowell, Justin Lader
Starring: Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Robert Redford, Jesse Plemons, Riley Keough, Ron Canada, Mary Steenburgen
