Suicide Is the One-Way Ticket to Heaven in ‘The Discovery’ Trailer
Netflix scooped up a lot of hot property back at the Sundance Film Festival, and after they pulled back the curtain on the award-winning I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore come February 24, their next big unveiling will be The Discovery. The high-concept sci-fi drama will be fully available through the streaming service on March 31, and while the element of mystery has remained a major part of the film’s advertising campaign, a new trailer does offer some more clues on what the deal is. The most important reveal of all: Mary Steenburgen is in this film.
She appears as a reporter grilling scientist Robert Redford about the ethical implications of his most recent breakthrough. Namely, that another plane of existence lies beyond life and can be easily reached by committing suicide. In light of this revelation, millions of suicides sweep the nation, and she’d like to know if he feels any sense of responsibility. Rooney Mara and Jason Segel play two of the common folks reeling from this discovery, and from the looks of it, Segel has to stop Mara from drowning herself. Also figuring into this still-enigmatic plot somehow: new it-girl Riley Keough, Kirsten Dunst spouse and Fargo star Jesse Plemons, and character actor Ron Canada.
It’s a curious trailer, posing a difficult question, and it’s not whether Redford should feel responsible for the deaths or not. The real question is whether death is even such a bad thing when it’s the surefire avenue to a better way of living. Ready yourself for plenty of existential pondering come March 31. Check out the poster below.