Self/less (2015)
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A dying billionaire attempts to cheat death by transferring his consciousness into a younger body.
The story
Billionaire New Yorker Damian Hale is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He discovers a medical procedure called "shedding," which allows a person's consciousness to be transferred into a new body. Damian agrees to the procedure and stages his own public death. After the transfer, he begins a new life in New Orleans under the incognito name of Edward Kidner. However, he begins experiencing vivid hallucinations of a woman and a child. When he questions his doctor, Albright, he discovers that the hallucinations may be linked to the previous owner of his new body.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Billionaire New Yorker Damian Hale is diagnosed with terminal cancer and undergoes a 'shedding' procedure to transfer his consciousness into a younger body. He begins a new life in New Orleans as Edward Kidner but suffers from hallucinations of a woman, Madeline, and a child, Anna. He eventually discovers that the body he inhabits belonged to a man named Mark Bitwell, who had sold himself to the procedure's creator, Dr. Francis Jensen (Albright), to pay for Anna's life-saving treatment. Damian finds Madeline and plays along as Mark, but is attacked by Albright's men. He learns that Jensen is using pills to suppress the original personalities of the bodies, and without them, Damian's consciousness will die while Mark's re-emerges. Damian eventually discovers that Jensen has shed his own consciousness into Albright's body. After a series of confrontations involving his friend Martin O'Neill and the recurring antagonist Anton, Damian manages to sabotage a shedding machine to prevent Anton from taking Mark's body. Damian eventually helps Madeline and Anna escape to the Caribbean. He returns to the Caribbean, stops taking his medication, and allows the real Mark to slowly re-emerge, leaving a final video message for him.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Tarsem Singh
- Writers
- Alex Pastor · writer; David Pastor · writer
- Cast and characters
- Ryan Reynolds · Damian Hale/Mark Bitwell; Natalie Martinez · Madeline Bitwell; Matthew Goode · Dr. Francis Jensen/Albright; Victor Garber · Martin O'Neill; Derek Luke · Anton; Ben Kingsley · Damian Hale; Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen · Anna Bitwell; Melora Hardin · Judy O'Neill
- Genres
- science fiction; action; thriller; mystery
- Themes
- transhumanism; identity; mortality; consciousness
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful; sci-fi
- Setting
- New York City, New Orleans, Hawaii, St. Louis, and the Caribbean in the modern era.
- Premise and plot tags
- consciousness transfer; terminal illness; body swapping; medical thriller
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavorable reviews, with critics noting it failed to do much with its potential-packed premise. However, it received a B+ average grade from audiences on CinemaScore.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 34 · scale: 100 · review count: 30; IGN · score: 5.0 · scale: 10
- Production trivia
- A sequence was shot in the three-story Trump Tower penthouse that served as Donald and Melania Trump's primary residence until 2017.; Many of the film's elements are similar to the 1966 film Seconds.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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