‘2067’ is a dramasci fi released in the year 2020 and directed and written by Seth Larney. Leading the cast is Kodi Smit-McPhee and in the supporting roles we have Ryan Kwanten, Sana’a Shaik, Deborah Mailman and Aaron Glenane.
In 2067, a dystopian world is shown suffering from extreme environmental collapse. Time travel, personal discovery and philosophy all blended into one. The film uses science fiction for far more than the spectacle.
Plot Breakdown
The film starts in 2067, a time where the planet is inhospitable. Decades of negligence has led to the planet being devoid of oxygen. the people surviving in this world are under constant surveillance. People have come to rely on oxygen that is synthetic in nature, produced by soulless, greedy corporations. This oxygen is especially harmful to children.In the Blighted Earth, we find a lowly repair man of oxygen lineeth Power Systems. Such is the case of Ethan Whyte. Ethan works for Chronicorp, a business dedicated to finding innovative solutions to the oxygen shortage. Ethan occupies neither the position of scientist, nor that of a manager. He is a man like any other, trying to make a living, and is troubled tryin g to make sense of the world around him. Given the dynamic of their relationship, it pains Ethan all the more that his wife Xanthe suffers from a disease complicated by the lack of oxygen. He regrets not being able to do anything to help her.
Ethan is summoned to Chronicorp’s headquarters, where he is privy to the strange honor of learning that, in the year 2474, a communication destined for him arrived. The message is simple: “Send Ethan Whyte.” There are lots of things people are not clear about at the moment, but it is increasingly apparent that there is a plot to save humanity that Ethan is a part of, for some unfathomable reason, in the not so distant tomorrow.
Ethan is, for sure terrified and lacks composure to start, but does not hesitate to use the very first Chronical machine, one that is able to push people in time but for which there is no way of bringing the relapsed time. The machine does not, under any circumstances, guarantee a return. Ethan, along with his companion and boss, Jude Mathers, undergoes a space time journey, traversing of which makes him unearth parts about his personal self, history, and the world along with a flimsy promise of it, entwining around the very core of it all.
Time travel starts as a science fiction flight of fancy before evolving into a science project, and ultimately falls into the realms of history as a lifework of a maverick scientist. Richard Whyte, one of the leading scientists on the Time Project, disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a baffling riddle. His son, Ethan, soon discovered a dystopian world littered with the withering remnants of a once a thriving civilization. While scavaging for mechano-sci, Ethan Whyte, coming to terms with the legacy of Whyte Whyte, Jr., fifty years of disguise later, begins to experience the memories of a tethered past through cruel mechanized filters. Relics – broken civilization, voices trapped in recorders left by the ancients, and half-finished thoughts in hastily jotted logs – make him wrestle with the questions of history, finding a sense of belonging in the chaos of identities. While grappling with the enigma of his lineage, Ethan comes face to face with the extremes of reluctance and recklessness, engulfed with the paradox of choice in the chaos of the whirling world. He does not emerge as a cobbled entity, but as a dignified self, a shred of heroism intact.
Main Characters
Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee): Ethan’s transformation from timid, hesitant, passive, indecisive, and careless to brave, valiant, self-respecting, and dignified forms the emotional heart of the film. Relatable and approachable, Ethan is a mystery masquerading as an unremarkable worker, burdened with a complex family saga. Like all of us, Ethan fearlessly faces his greatest weaknesses – his strengths.
Jude Mathers (Ryan Kwanten): As a friend and a colleague, Ethan, on a time-travel mission, and his companion, crucially assists and simultaneously, defangs the central antagonist, Ethan’s metamorphic self.
Xanthe Whyte (Sana’a Shaik): Ethan’s wife, along with her love and devotion for Ethan, forthcoming self sacrifices, and debilitating health issues, reinforces the motivation, sculpting the emotional frame.
Regina Jackson (Deborah Mailman): One of the leaders at Chronicorp, she maintains time travel is mankind’s greatest hope and is still economical with the truth at times.
Richard Whyte (Aaron Glenane): The father of Ethane, whose legacy and mysterious disappearance constructs the entire narrative. His actions in the past created both problematic and solution varied futures.
Key Themes
- Environmental Responsibility
The central theme regarding the film 2067 focuses on the damage man has caused to the planet. The destruction is not due to a single event, but the detrimental actions carried out over several years. The oxygen crisis is a perfect example of what happens when mankind chooses to ignore nature.
- Hope and Sacrifice
The film portrays the future as a cruel and ruthless place. However, hope still exists as the future is not something to be feared, but embraced. Ethan’s determination to journey into the future is something not to be taken lightly. It is a journey that not only pushes the boundaries but also places the individual’s life at stake. The individual has to self-sacrifice in order to transform the future.
3. Legacy and Identity
Ethan’s emotional struggle stems from the absence of his father. Abandoning Ethan and his mother, his father was perceived as a source of pain and confusion. Ethan’s journey helps him come to terms with the father’s intentions of which he was ignorant, and in doing so, helps Ethan heal his old wounds and reconstruct his identity.
- Truth vs. Control
Incorporating Ethan’s narrative the organization he works for conceals crucial data from him. With each new piece of information, Ethan finds out his motivations for wanting to save the world differs from how others perceive them. The film attempts to answer how the reality and the attempts of those in power to modify or manipulate it intersect, and how the reality in question is the basis for progress.
- Time and Choice
In the film Time travel in 2067 is used to demonstrate the constructed nature of cause and effect rather than for providing spectacles. The film’s question is: if the outcome of your decision were visble to you, would you have chosen the same course of action? Ethan’s decisions are significant. The future is a direct outcome of what he is willing to accept and what he is willing to act upon.
Cinematic Style and Tone
The film arrestingly depicts a stark contrast between the two eras. In 2067, the world is stifling, congested and mechanized, with a profusion of artificial lighting and cubicles. The atmosphere strikes one as oppressive. In stark contrast, the world of 2474 is more unbounded, peaceful and abundant, with greenness, patrician and an impressive emerald glow.
The mood of the film is quiet, and poses a series of questions. The absence of high-tempo action is compensated by the presence of tension that builds from an escalating mystery, an emotional awakening, and a philosophical unraveling. The music is either completely absent, or serves to enhance the inquisitive atmosphere and self-reflection of the characters.
The film’s visual effects are understated and grounded in the film’s universe, serving the requirements of the story without displacing dominance over it. Time travel, gadgets, and nature traverse a sophisticated line, remaining believable without disbelief.
Strengths of the Film
Emotional Depth: The film concentrates on the emotional and personal transitions of Ethan, giving the narrative more substance than the usual science fiction flick.
Thought-Provoking Message: The film grapples with the weighty questions surrounding the environment, and the responsibility that comes with one’s legacy.
Sophisticated visual design: The film achieves a level of interest with the world it builds, light on the budget, and steep on world building generosity.
Considerations
For those waiting for non-stop action, the pacing can be perceived as dreadfully slow. The narrative unfolds over time, prioritizing emotions over grandeur.
Beyond the confines of the plot, the film touches upon scientific concepts which, though complicated, are explained in a manner that does not alienate the layman.
Final Thoughts
In as much as 2067 is a science fiction film, it is one that takes more time to ponder than to look for thrills. The focus is not on world saving with advanced technologies or supernatural powers, but the selfless act of caring by an individual. The film, through Ethan, emphasizes the need to confront reality, respect the past, and have hope for the future.
For those who appreciate character-driven fiction that is rich in purpose and atmosphere, 2067 is a film that, amidst the challenges, is imaginative and filled with hope. The film portrays the ever-present capacity of the human condition to rise to the ocassion and search for the light, even in the bleakest of circumstances.
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