Serenity (2019)
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A fishing boat captain is hired by his ex-wife to murder her abusive new husband, only to discover the reality of his world is not what it seems.
The story
Baker Dill is a fishing boat captain living a quiet and sheltered life, spending his days leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island while obsessing over catching a specific fish. His peaceful existence is disrupted when his ex-wife, Karen, tracks him down. She begs him to save her and their young son from her new, powerful, and violently abusive husband, Frank. She offers Dill a large sum of money to murder Frank during a scheduled fishing trip. Torn between his conscience and his desire to help Karen, Dill is forced into a dangerous situation that challenges his perception of his reality.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Baker Dill, a fishing boat captain on Plymouth Island, is approached by his ex-wife Karen, who offers him $10 million to murder her abusive new husband, Frank, during a fishing trip. As Dill grapples with the morality of the task, he discovers that he and the inhabitants of the island are actually artificial intelligence characters in a computer game created by Karen's son, Patrick. The game is based on Patrick's late father, a Marine who died in 2006. Patrick had modified the game to include his mother and step-father. Despite realizing he is a digital construct, Dill proceeds with the plan to kill Frank. In the real world, Patrick finds the courage to confront and stab Frank, who dies. Patrick is taken into his mother's custody while awaiting trial, and he eventually designs a new game where he and his father can be reunited.
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 106
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Steven Knight
- Writers
- Steven Knight · writer
- Cast and characters
- Matthew McConaughey · Dill; Anne Hathaway · Karen; Diane Lane; Jason Clarke · Frank; Djimon Hounsou; Jeremy Strong
- Genres
- mystery; thriller
- Themes
- simulated reality; domestic violence
- Setting
- Plymouth Island, a tropical enclave.
- Premise and plot tags
- mystery; thriller; video games; simulated reality
- Content notes
- sexually-explicit
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial failure, receiving poor reviews and being included on several 'worst of 2019' lists.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 37 · scale: 100 · review count: 38; CinemaScore · score: D+ · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 56%
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Actor · Nominated; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Actress · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The film's production caused a scandal in Mauritius regarding misappropriated funds.; The film was originally scheduled for release in late 2018 but was pushed back multiple times.; The distributor reportedly stopped marketing the film after poor test screenings.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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