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Mar 31, 2017 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

With one world-changing science experiment, neurological researcher Dr. Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford) has proven the existence of an afterlife. Around the globe, millions of desperate people take their lives with the promise of a fresh start with a clean slate, wherever that next plane of existence may be. In the two years since “The Discovery,” Harbor has gone into hiding, obsessed with finding out just where it is we go when we die as a cult of dedicated, post-suicidal followers grows around him.

Raising a handful of interesting questions, The Discovery features a surprisingly all-star cast—including Jason Segel and Rooney Mara—for what’s essentially a small, cerebral, single-location science fiction film. Director and co-writer Charlie McDowell has cooked up another mindbender in the same vein as his 2014 trip The One I Love, though this one’s far from the humorous crowd-pleaser that film was. The tone is as expectedly downbeat as you’d expect for a movie where a large number of the world’s population has offed themselves, and the film’s ideas feel less formed once you peel past its high concept. Still, what’s there is likely to keep you thinking about it after the movie’s end, and that makes it easily worth exploring.

Author rating: 6.5/10