The national mood has been a little bit blue lately, what with the election and associated impending doom, but Netflix has just the ticket, as the new teaser for its original film The Discovery shows. Romance, charm, and Rooney Mara and Jason Segel relaxing on a deserted beach to the sweet sounds of Roy Orbison as kindly old Robert Redford looks on! Also Mara, Segel, and Redford are living in a world where the scientific proof of the afterlife has led to a rash of suicides as people hurry their way to the next life, but let’s focus on the positive—we have enough problems!
The Discovery was directed by Charlie McDowell from a script by McDowell and Justin Lader; the two collaborated on McDowell’s last film, The One I Love. Their new film looks like it has a similar sci-fi/thriller vibe, although creating a universe in which virtually everyone is planning to kill themselves is undeniably bleaker than the failing marriage at the center of The One I Love. As dystopian premises go, this is a good one: Usually there’s some external force pushing a societal collapse, whether it’s infertility or zombies. A world where everyone else has voluntarily checked out is a nice twist for our cheerful, cheerful age.
The Discovery will premiere at Sundance on Jan. 20 and come to Netflix on March 31.
