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‘The Discovery’ fumbles the big questions

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Jason Segel in The Discovery.

Two stars

The Discovery Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Robert Redford. Directed by Charlie McDowell. Not rated. Available March 31 on Netflix.

With its big-name cast, Sundance premiere and sci-fi high concept, The Discovery seems like it might warrant a theatrical release, rather than a Netflix debut. But the movie’s ambitions turn out to be disappointingly small-scale, and what starts out as potentially thought-provoking science fiction quickly fizzles into a mediocre family drama and a dull romance.

Director and co-writer Charlie McDowell offered up similarly half-baked, low-impact sci-fi with his 2015 debut The One I Love, and while The Discovery promises a wider scope, its world-building is sloppy and unconvincing. The eponymous discovery is definitive scientific proof of the afterlife, but even as scientist Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford) explains his findings directly to an interviewer in the opening scene, it’s never quite clear what this evidence is or why it’s so compelling that it’s inspired millions of people to commit suicide in order to reach this still-unknown new plane of existence.

The setup suggests Children of Men, but the main story, involving a deep connection between Harbor’s son Will (Jason Segel) and Isla (Rooney Mara), one of Harbor’s followers, is more Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Discovery can’t come close to either of those inspirations, though, with its mundane and ill-defined revelations, its chemistry-free romantic leads and its dour, meandering plot. The movie opens by suggesting a world of possibilities, and then spends the rest of its time diminishing them.

Tags: Film
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