Synopsis
A man dying of a terminal illness is unwilling to leave his pregnant wife and child behind. Cameron (Mahershala Ali) is now forced with a decision to either tell his family of his fate or have them not know at all. In this future society, they have developed technology that can create a double of you. A replica of yourself is created and it lives out the rest of your life as you. This will allow the original Cameron to die without his family knowing that they are interacting with a replica. His wife Poppy (Naomie Harris) and son Hugo (Dax Rey) shouldn’t be able to tell the real from the copy.
The decision is an incredibly tough one for Cameron. Cameron is torn throughout the movie if he’s made the right choice not only for himself but for his family. The main concern is if the copy is indistinguishable from the original so Cameron meets with a copy already out in the world. Cameron is reassured by Dr. Scott (Glenn Close) that the switch is unnoticeable. The clone is essentially him with slightly altered DNA and the same memories. The angles shown in the film constantly represent duality. This emphasizes that Cameron and his clone Jack are the same people in some way.
Interpretation
I believe this movie poses an interesting question to the audience, would you let your family live on without you? A question that causes you to think of how you would act if you were in the same situation. Most would be ok with this happening (they would have no choice) unless there was an alternative option like the one presented in this movie. Then it becomes a question of being ok with someone taking your place after you are gone. We may love our family deeply but if your decision is not to not to go through with it, we can reveal our selfishness in not wanting our loss to be replaced so easily by another. Perhaps if this is the case we begin to question our own values in relation to our family.
