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Even as I was watching "Cloud Atlas" the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything. To borrow Churchill's description of Russia, "it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." It fascinates in the moment. It's getting from one moment to the next that is tricky.

Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made. The little world of film criticism has been alive with interpretations of it, which propose to explain something that lies outside explanation. Any explanation of a work of art must be found in it, not taken to it. As a film teacher, I was always being told by students that a film by David Lynch , say, or Warner Herzog, was "a retelling of the life of Christ, say, or 'Moby Dick.' " My standard reply was: Maybe it's simply the telling of itself.

Yet "Cloud Atlas" cries out for an explanation, and surely you've noticed that I've been tap-dancing around one. I could tell you that it relates six stories taking place between the years 1849 and 2346. I could tell you that the same actors appear in different roles, playing characters of different races, genders and ages. Some are not even human, but fabricants. I could tell you that the acting and makeup are so effective that often I had no idea if I was looking at Tom Hanks , Halle Berry or Jim Broadbent . I could tell you that, and what help is it?

I could tell you that each segment is a refashioning of the story contained in the previous one. That the same birthmark turns up in every period of time. That a repeated motif is that all lives are connected by a thirst for freedom. That the movie was inspired by the much-loved novel of the same name by David Mitchell . That in the novel, the stories were told in chronological order, and then circled back again from end to beginning. That the movie finds its connections through the reappearances of the same actors in different roles and deliberately refers to one story from within another.

Now are you wiser? I'm treading water. And now could follow a very long paragraph introducing and describing the different characters played by the actors. But you would lose your way all the same, because many of the performances and disguises are so cunningly effective. I could tell you that Halle Berry's work as a mid-1970s investigative reporter works well for me, and the gnarly wisdom of Tom Hanks as an old man telling tales is the most impenetrable.

I despair. I think you will want to see this daring and visionary film, directed by Lana Wachowski , Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski . Anywhere you go where movie people gather, it will be discussed. Deep theories will be proposed. Someone will say, "I don't know what in the hell I saw." The names of Freud and Jung will come up. And now you expect me to unwrap the mystery from the enigma and present you with a nice shiny riddle?

Sometimes the key to one movie can be suggested by another one. We know that the title refers to early drawings of the shapes and behavior of clouds. Not long ago I saw a Swedish film, " Simon and the Oaks ," about a day-dreaming boy who formed a bond with an oak tree. In its limbs, he would lie reading books of imagination and then allow his eyes to rest on the clouds overhead. As he read a book about desert wanderers, the clouds seemed to take shape as a ghostly caravan of camels in procession across the sky.

I was never, ever bored by "Cloud Atlas." On my second viewing, I gave up any attempt to work out the logical connections between the segments, stories and characters. What was important was that I set my mind free to play. Clouds do not really look like camels or sailing ships or castles in the sky. They are simply a natural process at work. So too, perhaps, are our lives. Because we have minds and clouds do not, we desire freedom. That is the shape the characters in "Cloud Atlas" take, and how they attempt to direct our thoughts. Any concrete, factual attempt to nail the film down to cold fact, to tell you what it "means," is as pointless as trying to build a clockwork orange.

But, oh, what a film this is! And what a demonstration of the magical, dreamlike qualities of the cinema. And what an opportunity for the actors. And what a leap by the directors, who free themselves from the chains of narrative continuity. And then the wisdom of the old man staring into the flames makes perfect sense.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Cloud Atlas (2012)

Rated R or violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use

172 minutes

Jim Broadbent as Timothy, etc.

Halle Berry as Luisa Rey, etc.

Susan Sarandon as Horrox, etc.

Tom Hanks as Zachry, etc.

Hugh Weaving as Noakes, etc.

Hugh Grant as Kona Chief, etc.

Written and directed by

• Lana Wachowski

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Souls Tangled Up in Time

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By A.O. Scott

• Oct. 25, 2012

In 1849 a businessman on a Melville-esque sea voyage in the South Pacific battles a mysterious illness and shelters a runaway slave. In 1936 Robert Frobisher, a penniless young composer, flees Cambridge for Edinburgh to join the household of a vain and temperamental maestro. Four decades later an alternative-press journalist risks her life investigating safety problems at a nuclear power plant.

In our own day a feckless book publisher finds himself trapped in a nursing home. Sometime in the corporate, totalitarian future a member of the genetically engineered serving class, a fast-food worker named Sonmi-451, is drawn into rebellion, while in a still more distant, postapocalyptic, neo-tribal future (where Sonmi is worshiped as a deity), a Hawaiian goatherd. ...

That last one is a little more complicated, involving a devil, marauders on horseback and the possibility of interplanetary travel. It is also where the spoilers dwell. In any case, these half-dozen stories are the components of “Cloud Atlas,” David Mitchell’s wondrous 2004 novel , now lavishly adapted for the screen by Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer.

“Cloud Atlas” is a movie about migratory souls and wayward civilizations, loaded with soaring themes and flights of feeling, as vaporous and comprehensive as its title. Big ideas, or at least earnest intellectual conceits, crowd the screen along with suave digital effects and gaudy costumes. Free will battles determinism. Solidarity faces off against domination. Belief in a benevolent cosmic order contends with fidelity to the cruel Darwinian maxim that “the weak are meat the strong do eat.”

Describing this movie, despite its lofty ambitions, can feel like an exercise in number crunching, and watching it is a bit like doing a series of math problems in your head. How do three directors parcel six plots into 172 minutes? (And how much might that cost?) Which actor — most of them inhabit several roles, in some cases changing gender or skin color as well as costume, accent and hairstyle — tackles the widest range of characters? What is the correlation between a musical phrase and a comet-shaped birthmark? How many times does Hugo Weaving sneer?

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Cloud Atlas Reviews

Cloud Atlas tells a huge story in ways that often felt personal and small.

Full Review | Oct 3, 2022

Cloud Atlas will confound and maybe even aggravate some unwilling to, quite simply, “go with the flow.” But others will find what few have: a bold, technically awesome, and thematically enduring picture whose arrangement and ambition are unprecedented.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 21, 2022

It’s a highly ambitious picture that pulls off an incredibly clever storytelling technique. But it could also be viewed as a three-hour grind that features many of the Wachowski’s familiar self-indulgences.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

I was hypnotized by Cloud Atlas.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 23, 2022

Its a film unlike any other ever madeone that explores the fluidity of sexuality and genderand a thrilling cinematic experience. The Matrix may have put the Wachowskis on the map. Cloud Atlas proves their real brilliance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 20, 2022

Far from a block that fits neatly into any sort of structured agenda, Cloud Atlas is a symphony of emotion that plays the synapses and the spine...

Full Review | Sep 10, 2021

[There's'] far too many actors in this town to have to bother paying Tom Hanks $100,000,000 and putting him in nine hundred scenes as different ethnicities and races.

Full Review | Aug 31, 2021

There were so many prosthetic noses.

For all its jabbering about the "connectedness" of humanity, the film never makes any kind of point

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

As a work of art, Cloud Atlas is no success. The film founders under the burden of its makers' various, perhaps contradictory ideological concerns.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2021

It's like a treasure hunt to uncover the nuggets of brilliance hidden beneath the tangled mess of six interweaving storylines.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 1, 2020

A messy, ambitious film that blends science fiction, philosophical rambling, and impressive narrative prowess, with stunning visuals, and engaging stories and characters.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 15, 2020

Cloud Atlas manages to weave these stories into a thought provoking, beautiful and a boldly ambitious sci-fi film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 15, 2020

Cloud Atlas is a glorious reward for readers who've slogged through a brilliant but flawed novel, and the soundtrack is the cherry on top of the icing on the cake.

Full Review | Jun 30, 2020

One of the best science fiction movies I have seen this year. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 25, 2020

A daring extravaganza of images and themes, a film that asserts itself as worthy of repeated viewings, not only for its quality, but its generously expansive scope.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2019

Yes, Cloud Atlas is massively ambitious, and impressive. But as it labours to clarify its own confusion, mapping every last nook of narrative space, any sense of real mystery is obliterated by platitudes about freedom.

Full Review | Jul 31, 2019

While Cloud Atlas has its flaws, there are plenty of moments where I found myself seeing the big picture and fully realizing the weight of every storyline linking to one another throughout time.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Jul 2, 2019

Tykwer and the Wachowskis clearly aimed for the stars, and while the final product ultimately falls short, there is still quite a bit to admire in the failure of their epic folly.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 8, 2019

I wouldn't call The Cloud Atlas pure cinema, but... the mix and mash trumps the balderdash.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2019

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• What Is Cinema?

Cloud Atlas Review: An Epic Wonder of Equal Entertainment and Silliness

Cloud Atlas, which stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, and a bunch of other people, all playing multiple roles with the help of all kinds of age, race, and gender makeup, is one of the single most entertaining movies I have ever seen. It’s also, in an equally ambitious and crazily pulpy way, one of the silliest; in fact, I can say with confidence that if it had only included a body-oiled gladiator fight or sweaty inner-city dance-off among its multiple story strands, past, present, and future, it would have been the silliest—at points I found myself smiling at the movie’s sheer audacity, its epic silliness.

Long, compound sentence there, but long, compound movie, clocking in at just under three hours while cutting back and forth among its six plots. If most movies “unfold,” there’s a sense in which this one not only unfolds but also assembles itself, something like a Transformer (the toys, duh, not the movies); there’s not just stunt casting here but also stunt narrative. I should add that, for me, “silly” isn’t always a pejorative—in politics or business, yes, but not necessarily in entertainment, and certainly not in comedy (Jerry Lewis and Benny Hill notwithstanding). What’s silly about Cloud Atlas is all the crazy, dazzling effort it goes to, all the Mach-5, V-8 filmmaking talent it harnesses, to make some ultimately rather obvious points about evergreens such as love, evil, freedom, art—the highs and lows of human nature, the stuff the species is stuck with, for better or worse, profound or boring.

There! Now you know what the movie’s about. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Practically fits on a greeting card. So please don’t be intimidated by Cloud Atlas, which was written and directed by the Wachowski siblings, Andy and Lena, who previously made the Matrix movies and Speed Racer, and Tom Tykwer, best known for Run Lola Run . Some reviews might make the new film sound like work, but it’s not—it’s fun! Think of it maybe as Tree of Life, if that film had been directed by Steven Spielberg with a surfeit of cliffhangers under his baseball cap. It’s a fusion of art movie and blockbuster. (I haven’t read David Mitchell’s novel but had no problem making sense of the storylines, with the exception of one or two minor plot points.)

Back to the topic of transcendent silliness: one of the movie’s great pleasures is the multiple-role-playing and attendant gobs of makeup and prosthetics. Is that Hugo Weaving in drag as the Nurse Ratched–like overlord of an old-age home? Is that Hugh Grant under skull-face tattoos and, in memory if not reality, a bone in his nose as a primitive, post-apocalyptic warlord? The actress who plays the Korean clone, Doona Bae, is also the 19th-century naturalist’s English wife? Yes, yes, and yes. How many accents will Tom Hanks deploy and how much weird facial hair will be spirit-gummed to his skin? Lots and lots. In this sense, Cloud Atlas is like the best-ever episode of Saturday Night Live . Halle Berry should play a Jewish woman in every movie!

The film ends on an upbeat, even hokey note, or at least it wants you to think it does. The scenes sell themselves that way amid soaring score and twinkles in Hanks’s and Berry’s eyes, although there’s a grim irony in the ending, too, which I won’t give away and which I’m also not sure the filmmakers are aware of—well, of course they’re aware of it; I mean I’m not sure they see it as grim. Hokey-grim: another interesting fusion. Let’s discuss once you’ve seen the film.

Their proximity on the release schedule, and in Oscar speculation, along with their similarly high butt-sit factor, leads me to think of Cloud Atlas as the polar opposite of The Master, in that the former wears a big heart on its sleeve while the latter, at least for me, was frustratingly opaque. But both are bravura feats of filmmaking and, however long, I was sorry to see the credits roll on both. I will pay Cloud Atlas what I think of as the ultimate compliment: I will eagerly seek out the four- or five-hour director’s-cut version, which I’m sure exists, when it arrives on DVD or shows up at Film Forum.

Bruce Handy

Cocktail hour.

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Cloud Atlas review: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry in epic time-spanning drama

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski; Screenwriters: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski; Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon; Running time: 172 mins; Certificate: 15

Wordsworth likened clouds to lonely, wandering souls, but according to writer David Mitchell and the brave filmmakers who have adapted his novel, all souls are connected. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry lead the ensemble, playing a multitude of characters making choices that shape the world between 1849 and 2346. This is a fascinating, far-out story, though it slightly exceeds the storytellers' grasp.

Taken individually, there is nothing especially difficult to fathom about each storyline and those set in recent times resonate in a more obvious way. In the 1970s, Berry is a reporter determined to expose corruption at a nuclear facility, which follows a brief encounter with James D'Arcy, who also features in an earlier thread as the sweetheart of an unsung composer (a standout Ben Whishaw).

A sense of impending doom hangs over these people and for Doona Bae as a 'fabricant' living a life of servitude in a futuristic Seoul. Jim Sturgess is her liberator in a Blade Runner -style plot that seems a more natural fit for directors Lana and Andy Wachowski (who previously collaborated on The Matrix series) with third wheel Tom Tykwer, presumably, lending his flair for the surreal.

An even more distant vision of the future feels positively dreamlike, with Hanks and Berry chatting in a strange dialect as she seeks his help to find an ancient citadel. He is beset by primal fears (Hugo Weaving, his demon) and along with the rugged backdrop and tribal way of life it seems humanity has devolved. This chapter closes a loop that begins on a slave ship, with Sturgess, in 1849.

The quest for freedom is a unifying theme, but the gravity of what binds these characters together is tempered by lighter moments. Mostly, these are contained in a story featuring Jim Broadbent desperately trying to break out of an old peoples' home. Hugh Grant is the villain of that piece and a clutch of others - though in his role as a '70s oligarch, it isn't clear whether the laughs are intentional.

Dots are joined across the vastness of time and space, but it's a fragile structure that Tykwer and the Wachowskis have fashioned here, making for a somewhat unnerving experience. Every cut between stories is a flying leap, until the final hour (of three) when the threads are gradually entwined. If the idea is to demonstrate the universe in harmony, that doesn't translate as a feeling.

In an attempt to bridge the gaps the filmmakers are overly dependent on recurring motifs (like a shooting star birthmark) and familiar faces popping up time after time - though occasionally made to look almost unrecognisable. But there are so many tonal shifts as well, from romance to adventure, sci-fi to conspiracy thriller to quintessential British comedy. It could never be a perfect whole.

That said, Cloud Atlas is never boring. Tykwer and the Wachowskis make a virtue of everything that is unexplained, creating genuine awe and mystery. Watching it is a bit like staring into a Magic Eye drawing because the visual clues are there, drawing you deeper in to see the bigger picture - but it's just as frustrating too, because when you think you've taken it all in, everything blurs.

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'Cloud Atlas': You're Better Off Reading The Book

David Edelstein

Zachry and Meronym are only two of the combined 12 characters Tom Hanks and Halle Berry play in Cloud Atlas . It is a challenge that bests both actors, according to David Edelstein. Jay Maidment/Warner Bros. hide caption

Cloud Atlas

• Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
• Genre: Drama
• Running Time: 164 minutes

Rated R for violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use

With: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant

First I need to talk about the book, because it's not as if Cloud Atlas the movie came from nowhere — and if you think it's only the movie you want to know about, I think you need a context for what's onscreen.

Author David Mitchell writes exquisite pastiches, and Cloud Atlas is in the form of six distinct and enthralling novellas set in six different eras with six different literary styles.

First comes the journal of a 19th century lawyer for a slave-trading company, then a series of early 20th century letters from a down-and-out composer who apprentices himself to an elderly musical giant. We jump to a 1970s paranoid conspiracy thriller; then a 2012 tale of a debt-ridden publisher tricked into signing himself into an old age home. In a totalitarian future, a South Korean restaurant is staffed by female robots called "fabricants," a couple of which are beginning to think for themselves with tumultuous social consequences. The last story is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which some denizens are hunter-gatherers, others cannibals.

From story to story there are echoes, counterpoints, variations, characters in one time aware of characters in the previous one through print or film or oral history, so it's as if a baton is being passed. The idea that everything in the universe is connected doesn't come from a character's speech — it seeps into you as you read.

Jim Broadbent and Ben Wishaw, seen here as Ayrs and Frobisher, also play five roles each. Both put forth stellar performances. Reiner Bajo/Warner Bros. hide caption

Jim Broadbent and Ben Wishaw, seen here as Ayrs and Frobisher, also play five roles each. Both put forth stellar performances.

The movie, directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Twyker, doesn't have discrete episodes. Every one of its stories is interwoven with every other — it's an epic hash of crisscrossing fragments tied together by music in a vain attempt at fluidity. I found it disjointed, distractingly busy; unlike the book, it telegraphs the theme from its first scene on.

The main actors have parts in all six stories, often in egregious disguises. They're a very uneven stock company. Tom Hanks speaking in a subliterate patois opens the film as a post-apocalyptic tribesman, then shows up with a putty nose and snaggle teeth in the 19th century — and so on. I like Hanks but when it comes to transforming, he's no Peter Sellers. It's always, "Hi, Tom!"

The even less versatile Halle Berry is primarily a gossip-rag reporter who ferrets out chicanery in the nuclear industry. Hugo Weaving plays sundry one-dimensional villains while Hugh Grant manages to embody a cannibal in war paint without losing his English lockjaw. Korean Doona Bae is the "fabricant": She has a lollipop head and a lithe body, but it's hard to detect much under the surface. There is one fine performance — Jim Broadbent as the publisher, and one splendid one — Ben Whishaw as the young composer.

Movie Reviews

Navigating the shift from complex to cineplex.

But the dialogue is full of flashcards and placards. Hanks gets to sum the film up in the episode in which he's a nervous nuclear scientist with blond hair in love with Berry's reporter.

Cloud Atlas is never dull; it's like a series of clunky but energetic B-movies inflated by lines like "Separation is an illusion" and "My life exists far beyond the limitations of me." It's certainly passionate. You can see why the Wachowskis were drawn to the book. They've expressed a belief in the transmigration of souls, the body but a weak and temporary vessel. And politically, they're radical: For them, every age has oppressors with unchecked power who preserve artificial boundaries — racial, sexual, economic, spiritual. As in The Matrix, the answer in Cloud Atlas is: Free your mind. Once you do there is but one possibility: Overthrow the Man.

My own mind was too dismayed by all the howlers in the dialogue and acting to be freed — the movie is too literal-minded to be a good head-trip. But I should add that audiences at the Toronto Film Festival premiere reportedly stood and cheered for 10 minutes. With its busy transitions and metaphysical heft Cloud Atlas could be this year's Inception . You'll travel farther, though, if you read the book.

The Washburn Review

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“Cloud Atlas” Movie Review

AJ Dome, Washburn Review November 11, 2012

That’s the buzz word surrounding what is now my favorite film this season, and perhaps all year.

“Cloud Atlas” is composed of six separate story arcs, all interconnected by a continuous theme, spanning 500 years with the actors portraying several different characters throughout. The six main actors within the film all get their limelight, but it’s the ever-changing state of their appearance which is most obvious–and most impressive. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae and Hugo Weaving are the biggest players within the worlds of “Cloud Atlas.”

Hugh Grant also stars in what might be considered the scariest role he’s ever performed. I mean, c’mon, Hugh Grant just isn’t what comes to mind when filmmakers need a large, imposing, heavily made-up native warrior. But Grant pulls it off in the most surprising way imaginable, and I am in no way providing a spoiler by saying that.

Word of caution: I will use the word “impressive” quite a bit in this article. The most impressive part of this film is the cohesiveness of the stories. Three directors are credited with bringing this monumental film to light. The Wachowski siblings (Lana and Andy of “The Matrix” series), and German director Tom Tykwer adapted the film from a 2004 novel of the same name, tackling the stories as separate short films, and then splicing them together into the biggest picture of all.

Speaking of the “biggest picture of all,” this film was funded by independent sources, including the German government. With a budget of $102 million, it’s one of the most expensive independent films of all time.

And it shows. Of course the Wachowskis are no strangers to excellent digital imagery, but “Cloud Atlas” is without a doubt beautiful, polarizing, and sometimes graphic. It’s well-deserved of its “R” rating, but it’s not a tasteless rating. It’s a film with realistic details, right down to sounds and textures, but with magical ideas and intense visuals. It relies on the pictures to hook you from the very beginning, with some overlaid voiced-over dialogue and a small sampling of each individual story. After that, the stories remained separated in content and even genre–jumping from drama to dark comedy to action/adventure.

The way it sneaks up on you is subtle, like a silent black cat, ready to pounce and dig its claws into your spine. And when it does, it’s certainly effective; I was riveted to my theater seat for the entire two hours and 45 minutes of run-time.

Fortunately, it doesn’t feel like a long movie. It actually leaves you yearning for more, silently wishing that it would continue, even though you feel satisfied with the conclusions. It’s kind of like life, actually. I’m sure at the very end some people feel compelled to continue, even though they’re satisfied with the results.

This idea of continual connections involving basic concepts of life and living is the recurring theme I mentioned earlier. If this sounds like a difficult subject to film, that’s because it is. “Unfilmable” has been used to describe this story, yet it’s out in theaters now, and critics are divided. Some love it, some hate it, but there’s no middle ground. I like it when a film does that.

Now, “Cloud Atlas” doesn’t come controversy-free. In one of the stories, a few of the actors are portraying Asian characters. The actors are white, so they were made to appear Asian through makeup, prosthetics, and computer graphics, with a heavy focus on the shape of their eyes. It’s pretty obvious, and it doesn’t mesh with the high quality of the rest of the film. It’s also not the best choice as a director if you’re wanting to stay politically correct and remain artistically detailed.

However, do not discount this film solely because of this plot device. “Cloud Atlas” has an intrinsic value worth far more than anything race or political correctness can affect. Don’t let negative critiques fool you. To quote my best friend Tyler, “if you’re looking for something to hate, you’re going to find it.”

This film is about people and the interconnectedness of their lives. Deja vu, intrinsic memories, small ripples of change spanning centuries–in reality, it has no clear beginning or end. It just continues forever, and with “Cloud Atlas,” we’re sampling a small fictional piece of humanity’s puzzle. Thankfully it’s an extremely high-quality piece of the puzzle.

I have a friend who’s studying film at the University of Southern California right now. He described “Cloud Atlas” to me like this: “It’s a movie in the same sense that a Lamborghini is a car.”

I’m going to take that description in a slightly different direction. “Cloud Atlas” is to cinema what the Bugatti Veyron is to cars. For those unfamiliar with the Veyron, it’s a $1.7 million German machine with a 16-cylinder engine, capable of mind-boggling numbers. It only takes two seconds to reach 60 miles per hour, and it tops out at 253 miles per hour… possibly more, if you dare.

Bugatti Veyron, meet “Cloud Atlas.” It’s much like you: dramatic, beautiful, scary at times, exciting at others, and very ambitious. And most importantly, “Cloud Atlas” doesn’t cost a million dollars. Just $9 will transport you through time and space, telling the story of how we’re all connected, whether we know it or not.

It’s $9 well spent.

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Den of Geek

Cloud Atlas review

The sprawling, ambitious Cloud Atlas arrives in the UK. Here's our review of a flawed yet mesmerising film...

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Why would anyone think that a book as lengthy and as complex as Cloud Atlas could be adapted into a workable movie? David Mitchell’s dense, epoch-spanning novel is perhaps an example of the what can be achieved in prose but not necessarily on a big screen: multiple characters, disparate time lines, and philosophical themes about death and the Dirk Gently -like interconnectedness of all things.

Attempting to summarise Cloud Atlas in a paragraph is nigh on impossible, with the opening half hour skipping along with the dizzying momentum of a haunted television – the channel keeps changing, and you can only guess what you’ll end up seeing next.

The story begins in the far-flung future, with a campfire tale recounted by Tom Hanks, scowling beneath a considerable amount of old man makeup. From there, we’re introduced to Ben Whishaw’s well-spoken Robert Frobisher, a musician in 1930s England, who works as an amanuensis for a noted composer played by Jim Broadbent. Then there’s Halle Berry’s reporter in 70s America, who’s investigating Hugh Grant’s sinister nuclear reactor magnate. Then we’re on a ship in the 19th century, then late 21st century Korea, then the 24th century again.

Cloud Atlas moves rapidly and almost seamlessly between these different moments in time, where the same actors play different characters in each scenario – the idea being that each character’s actions has an indirect impact on the next. Jim Broadbent, who plays the 1930s composer, also appears as a publisher in the present day. Hugo Weaving, true to form, shows up in every epoch as an antagonist in different guises, whether it’s a ruthless contract killer in the 70s, an apologist for the slave trade in the 19th century, or most terrifyingly of all, a stern Nurse Noakes in the present.

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So heavily made up are some of these actors, spotting them in each timeline turns into a sort of Where’s Wally mini-game. Look, there’s Ben Whishaw as a bearded shopkeeper. Here’s Hugh Grant as a vicious tattooed post-apocalyptic chieftain. And isn’t that Susan Sarandon as an old man with a robot eye? My God, I think it is.

Perhaps inevitably, some of these performances are better than others. Tom Hanks is good value as a conniving 19th century doctor with big teeth, but is rather out of his depth when asked to play a violent Irish novelist. Hugo Weaving makes a surprisingly good nurse, but the heavy facial prosthetics used to turn him into a late-21st-century Korean bureaucrat is rather distracting.

The result of all this dress-up – and filmmakers’ considerable use of green screen effects – is a film that feels almost dreamlike in its unreality, like a philosophical Mighty Boosh. Casting different actors for each part, rather than recycling them, may have resulted in a more grounded-looking ensemble movie, like Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line , for example. But this clearly isn’t the path the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer (who all gamely wrote, directed and produced) wanted to take; with its ‘ripples through time’ underlying theme, Cloud Atlas shifts madly from dark to light, from tear-jerking romance to abrupt bloodshed, from bleak drama to levity.

For some, the constant swing between different times and tones may prove too much, and this is perhaps why Cloud Atlas has polarised critical opinion so far. In attempting to be broadly humorous, thrilling and philosophical, the film finds itself in an odd middle ground, where pop-existential ponderings, Matrix  slow-mo shoot-outs and Benny Hill-like moments of slapstick in an old folks’ home are bizarrely intercut.

Depending on how cynical you’re feeling, you could also argue that, with a three-hour duration, the film takes a long time to get across its feel-good messages about goodness, badness and the value of human life. But at the same time, there’s never a moment where Cloud Atlas drags; the decision to constantly cut between stories (a technique handled differently from the novel) works extremely well, and even though some moments are many times better than others, the film sweeps along on its own batty momentum.

Against considerable odds, Tykwer and the Wachowskis have managed to wrestle this behemoth of modern writing into an entertaining movie. Sprawling, perplexing, sometimes beautiful but often kitsch, Cloud Atlas is a true oddity. It’s flawed, but there’s an urgency and vigour in its storytelling that is strangely beguiling. It’s the closest thing we have to a 21st century  Zardoz , and that’s surely a good thing.

Cloud Atlas is out in the UK now.

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Ryan Lambie

In Theaters and Digital

Cloud atlas - movie review.

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The film adaptation of British author David Mitchell’s bestselling novel, Cloud Atlas , is what happens when two (or three or four) different styles collide.  The unevents of your standard Merchant Ivory production merges with the soulless visuals of Lucasfilm to tell a variety of costume dramas about slavery and its master.  It’s a glorious mix of six different settings – starring all the same actors in a variety of roles (regardless of gender and race) – that attempts to tackle an enlightening message about humanity.  While meant to be uplifting, the movie doesn’t quite work in solving problem number one: the genre-hopping matrix in its gears cannot successfully build dramatic tension and, as a result, the movie comes across as pretentious hokum.

Written and directed by Lana Wachowski ( The Matrix ), Tom Tykwer ( Run Lola Run ), and Andy Wachowski ( The Matrix ), Cloud Atlas begins with its science fiction ending, an old man (Tom Hanks) telling a campfire story for his young’uns in broken Jar-Jar Binks-like speech patterns.  The allegorical tale he recounts is a plot line for another tale and so on.  We are soon whisked away to the Pacific.  And then Cambridge.  And then San Francisco.  And then London.  And then Neo Seoul.  And then back to after The Fall (of civilization).  Rinse and repeat.

In its simplified form, we move from a sea voyage involving a poisoned sailor (Jim Sturgess) and a stowaway slave (David Gyasi) to a war of composers between a maestro (Jim Broadbent) and his scribe (Ben Wishaw) to an investigative thriller as a journalist (Halle Berry) takes on an oil tycoon (Hugh Grant) to a comedy about a book editor (Broadbent) trying to escape a home for the elderly to a science fiction messianic love story about a rebel (Sturgess) and the slave (Doona Bae) he rescues and, finally, to the story of Zachary (Tom Hanks) and the mysterious space explorer (Berry). {googleads}

Hard to digest, I know, but these are the film’s many settings.  It's bold, yes, but nothing of originality really occurs in these stories; it’s all razzle-dazzle and intended misdirection.  Knowing this, the filmmakers attempt to bring everything together with a positive theme that transcends the movie’s settings and a recurring comet-shaped birthmark that defies explanation.  Cross-cutting the way it does, the emotionally deflated stories in Cloud Atlas are hard to invest in.  You can’t really care about these characters.  You simply don’t have time to; the forward momentum of this picture is unforgiving.  Adapt to it or move along.

Yet, to its credit, Cloud Atlas moves tirelessly between each of its storylines.  Big props must be given to the marvelous editing job by Alexander Berner.  This film easily could have been unhinged by its hiccupy narrative flow, but it is not.  In fact, Cloud Atlas is one of the least confusing independent films ever to hit the megaplex and that’s easily something to commend it for.

The best part of the picture is easily Broadbent’s comical escape from a Nurse Ratched-like Hugo Weaving (in a gender bending performance) as he and a gang of old folk work to outsmart their captives.  Weaving’s makeup is atrocious and never convincing but the old folks vs. the system situation is really the only relief the audience gets from the obvious philosophical rant this film basis its existence upon.  I’d love to suggest the science fictiony atmosphere of the Hanks and Berry storyline works but – having seen Battlestar Galactica – I can tell you that it’s a half-assed attempt to cop that television show’s style and bring the loopy narrative a conclusion (that only half makes sense).

Unfortunately, Cloud Atlas and its eternal “one soul, one fight” theme song doesn’t quite gel after the first hour (and there are two more to sit through).  Riveting at the on-set, Cloud Atlas releases its energy in a loud philosophical bomb that announces itself all too clearly and, perhaps, all too soon.  There’s really nothing to discover; love is eternal and so is the fight for what’s right.  For the next two hours, the film really goes nowhere; it’s like watching The Matrix Trilogy in one setting.  Starts strong, but finishes with a whimper.  And that, dear readers, is NOT a good thing.

Filled with one thematic montage too many, Cloud Atlas spoils itself in its time-sweeping arcs that attempt to parallel its characters and their individual situations with a crescendo-like tension that is either too familiar or too full of itself to be fully appreciated.  I can applaud the ambition behind bringing Cloud Atlas to life; however, I cannot applaud the end result.

For all of its sound and fury, the soulless Cloud Atlas signifies nothing.[/tab]

[tab title="Film Details"]

Synopsis : Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.[/tab]

[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

No details available.[/tab]

[tab title="Trailer"]

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Cloud Atlas Review

Cloud Atlas is out in cinemas nationwide on 22 February 2013

The success of David Mitchell's Booker prize short-listed novel was always set to make a dramatic film adaptation, with some even suggesting it was 'unfilmable'. Not so.

Based around six individual stories, the journey begins in the South Pacific in the 19th century and passes through to an unrecognisable future. Along the way it bypasses a genius composer, an investigative journalist and a militant fast food nation.

What isn't clear is how this monster of a film will ever end. Seeing Tom Hanks , Susan Sarandon, Halle Berry, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant , Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess and James D'Arcy in various guises doesn't help predict the outcome either but instead leaves you squinting to recognise each face hidden under, what can only be described as, award-worthy prosthetics.

It's 163 minutes of pure fantasy, but if you can get past the length what remains is as heart warming as it is bizarre.

If you like Tom Hanks then you might also like him in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close .

Watch our Cloud Atlas trailer and tell us what you think.

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Cloud atlas, common sense media reviewers.

Enormous scale and spectacle, but weak characters, story.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Amid the sometimes convoluted storytelling, the fi

None of the film's many characters has enough scre

Many of the main characters die, and many are shot

At least one female character appears topless, and

Sporadic strong language includes "f--k," "s--t,"

Samsung phone is shown, but not prominently.

Many characters drink alcohol (ranging from beer t

Parents need to know that Cloud Atlas -- the Wachowskis' massive sci-fi epic that takes place over six time periods, with several actors (including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry) playing roles in each -- has strong fantasy violence, including bloody attacks and battles with both guns and blades. Main characters…

Positive Messages

Amid the sometimes convoluted storytelling, the film promotes the ideas that all things/people are connected and that love can transcend space and time. There are small examples of bravery and trying to help others throughout.

Positive Role Models

None of the film's many characters has enough screen time to achieve much depth or resonance. But a few of them are good and brave, and a few fairly strong female characters emerge. One character has a kind of "bad conscience" demon that tries to convince him to do selfish and/or cowardly things. At first he gives into the demon's commands, but eventually he learns to stand up for himself and do things for others. Some characters risk their lives for what they believe in.

Violence & Scariness

Many of the main characters die, and many are shot or stabbed, with spurting blood. One dies in an airplane explosion. There are bloody attacks and battles with blades and guns, a few one-on-one fights, and threats; both children and adults die. A character commits suicide with a gun (put in mouth). A man throws another man from a high balcony. A bad guy shoots a dog (off screen). A little girl is shown to be fatally sick, with a poisoned, swollen foot.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

At least one female character appears topless, and there are two sex scenes (it's questionable that the act is consensual in one), with no other nudity shown. There's some strong innuendo in one scene as a rude customer in a futuristic restaurant uses a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise and pretends to ejaculate on a waitress' back. There's a scene in which a man escapes his lover's bedroom, presumably after sex; they share a kiss. In another scene, sex is interrupted by a cat, and there's some innuendo around the term "p---y."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sporadic strong language includes "f--k," "s--t," "c--k," "p---y," "hell," "ass," "damn," "goddamn," racial slurs like the "N" word and "wetback," and "Jesus" (as an exclamation).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Many characters drink alcohol (ranging from beer to wine to harder drinks), mostly in a social way. Once or twice, characters overindulge in a comic way, but only briefly. In one segment, the main characters smoke some pot. Some characters smoke cigarettes in a background way. In a futuristic sement, a character is addicted to a drug known as "soap" and overdoses.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Cloud Atlas -- the Wachowskis ' massive sci-fi epic that takes place over six time periods, with several actors (including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry ) playing roles in each -- has strong fantasy violence, including bloody attacks and battles with both guns and blades. Main characters die, and one commits suicide. Language is strong, though sporadic, with several uses of both "f--k" and "s--t." There are a few sex scenes, with one female appearing topless. Many characters drink, a few smoke cigarettes, and two smoke pot. Like Avatar , the movie's sheer, overwhelming size, scale, and spectacle may appeal to many audiences, and teens will likely be clamoring to see it; whether they'll enjoy it is less clear. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (16)
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Based on 16 parent reviews

Unnecessary violence spoils mundane plot.

Read the book, what's the story.

With six interwoven stories, CLOUD ATLAS attempts to show how acts in one time period can resonate in another. In the 19th century, a notary ( Jim Sturgess ) receives mysterious treatments from a doctor ( Tom Hanks ) and befriends an escaped slave. In 1931, a young musician ( Ben Whishaw ) goes to work for a legendary composer ( Jim Broadbent ). In 1975, a journalist ( Halle Berry ) investigates a nuclear power company. In the present day, a publisher (Broadbent) escapes some gangsters by checking into a retirement home but can't check back out. In the near future, a clone waitress (Doona Bae) learns that she has a greater destiny. And in the far future, a simple tribesman (Hanks) receives a visit from a technologically advanced woman (Berry).

Is It Any Good?

By normal standards, this is a disappointing movie, but it isn't an ordinary movie. If the six stories were disentangled and laid out separately, it would be clear that none of them has much depth or surprise. Cloud Atlas cuts corners to rush the multitude of shallow characters through their story arcs, which results in a general lack of rhythm. It becomes one long, monotonous thrum. What's more, the almost fetishistic use of makeup to distinguish the characters from the actors who play them is highly distracting, and the guessing game of who's behind which fake appendage becomes more interesting than the story itself.

But since Cloud Atlas is an "epic folly" (like David Lynch's Dune ), many audiences will find themselves swept away and perhaps even enchanted by the movie's mere efforts to be huge and impressive. Throughout Hollywood history, size and scale have often triumphed over content, and, for many, the magnifying and inflating of these empty stories may make them seem resonant.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Cloud Atlas ' violence . Does "fantasy" violence have a different impact than "realistic" violence? How does the violence contribute to the story in this movie?

How does the movie portray sex /sexual relationships?

If the movie's theme is "connections" and events resonating throughout time, what are some examples of this? Can you think of a way that this has happened in real life?

Which character is the most admirable? Which story affected you the most?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 26, 2012
• On DVD or streaming : May 14, 2013
• Cast : Halle Berry , Jim Sturgess , Tom Hanks
• Directors : Lilly Wachowski , Lana Wachowski , Tom Tykwer
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Transgender directors, Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Warner Bros.
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy
• Run time : 172 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use
• Last updated : May 17, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

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Cloud Atlas

• An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
• Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific, letters from a composer to his lover, a thriller about a conspiracy at a nuclear power plant, a farce about a publisher in a nursing home;, a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea, and the tale of a tribe living on post-apocalyptic Hawaii far in the future. — Anonymous
• The reincarnation of a soul travels through time beginning with the diary of a potential slave-owner voyaging across the Pacific in 1849, then a talented composer writing letters to his lover in the Britain's 1930s, followed by a reporter investigating a corrupt case about a US nuclear power plant in the 1970s, succeeded by a publisher's comical entrapment in a nursing home in 2012, followed by a clone's thrilling escape and rebellion in 2144's Korea, and finally a tribesman fighting cannibals in a forgotten colony world past 2300. Each story challenges the corrupt norms of the time, changing the course of history, and shaping the future through acts of kindness, big and small.
• The reincarnation of a soul travels through time in an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story, a time-shifting weave of six interlinking narratives, with diverse settings from the savagery of a Pacific Island in the 1850s to a dystopian Korea of the near future. Based on the best-selling novel Cloud Atlas written by David Mitchell. Featuring an all-star cast led by Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. — Chris Yako
• Directors Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski team up to helm this adaptation of David Mitchell's popular novel Cloud Atlas. The trio have put together an all-star cast, including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, and Hugh Grant, to play various characters over the course of several different historical time periods.
• This film follows the stories of six people's "souls" across time, and the stories are interweaved as they advance, showing how they all interact. It is about how the people's lives are connected with and influence each other. The first storyline follows a lawyer named Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess) in the early 1800s, whose family is in the slave trade. He has been sent to the Pacific to arrange a contract for some Maori slaves with a slave trader from that area. During his return voyage home, Ewing saves the life of a native man named Autua (David Gyasi) who is a runaway slave stowing away on the ship. Ewing also realizes he is being poisoned by a doctor he trusted, Dr. Henry Goose (Tom Hanks), who is robbing Ewing as he gets sicker and sicker. Autua saves Ewing's life and his views of the natives are changed in important ways as he comes to know the man. Adam Ewing's journal, which chronicled his ordeal and rescue by a runaway slave, are later published into a book which is discovered by the next character in the storyline. Ewing and his wife decide to quit the family slave trade and move east to become abolitionists. The second storyline follows the tragically short life of a talented young wannabe composer in the 1930's named Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw) who finagles himself into a position aiding an aging composer, Vyvyan Ayrs (Jim Broadbent). While working for Ayrs, Robert Frobisher begins reading the published chronicle of Adam Ewing's journal which he has found among the many books at Ayrs's mansion. He never finishes reading the journal and it is unclear what effect it has on the creation of his own musical composition. Robert enters a sexual relationship with Ayrs' wife, which, along with Ayrs' own arrogance and presumption of superiority of position and class, tears him and Ayrs apart. Ayrs threatens to ruin Frobisher's already rickety reputation when he encounters Frobisher's own work, the Cloud Atlas Sextet. Ayrs forces Frobisher to accept second place in the credit for the Sextet. Frobisher inadvertently shoots Ayrs during an argument then flees. When Ayrs survives the shooting, and sets police after him, he realizes he is facing utter ruin, as Ayrs threatened. Frobisher completes the Sextet, then sends it to his lover and friend, a Cambridge student, Rufus Sixmith (James D'Arcy) and commits suicide. Rufus Sixsmith meets the main character in the third storyline much later in his life, and we discover Robert Frobisher's Cloud Atlas Sextet has been recorded into an album and although it is an obscure recording, it has clearly affected people's lives. The third storyline is about a journalist in the 1970's named Luisa Rey (Halle Berry). She meets Rufus Sixsmith in a chance encounter while being stuck on a broken elevator. Sixsmith by now is a renowned physicist. After leaving the elevator, Sixsmith later attempts to re-contact Rey and reveal that there is a conspiracy afoot to cover up a report about the flaws in the design of a nuclear power reactor. When she is about to meet-up with Sixsmith, she finds him just recently dead, an apparent suicide. Her journalistic instincts kick in, telling her there is more to the story than a man committing suicide, and she discovers that a report on the reactor written by Sixsmith can reveal the terrible secret. Along with the report, Rey also finds a collection of letters written from Frobisher to Sixsmith many years earlier while Frobisher was working on the Cloud Atlas Sextet composition. A scientist named Isaac Sachs (Tom Hanks) meets Rey and helps her. The CEO, Lloyd Hooks (Hugh Grant) sends his head of security, Joe Napier (Keith David) and his agent, Bill Smoke (Hugo Weaving) to stop her. Smoke has already killed Sixsmith, and then Sachs, and attempts to kill Rey as she gets closer and closer to the truth. Smoke is stopped in the end by Joe Napier. As Napier and Rey escape death by the hands of Smoke, Luisa Rey publishes an article leading to the shutdown of the reactor after revealing the contents of the Sixsmith Report. The fourth storyline is a modern-day tale of Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent), the owner of a small publishing company, who has published a small biographical book by a lowlife thug. While the book has literally no hope of making much if any money, this changes when the author-thug kills a critic of his book by throwing him off a balcony to his death. Suddenly the book has legs and Cavendish is rolling in money from royalties. When friends of the thug come looking for his royalties, Cavendish is put in a tight situation, as he doesn't have the money they are demanding, and clearly the hooligans aren't particularly constrained by the law. While traveling by train to the hide-out address his brother recommended, Cavendish is seen reading a manuscript that was sent to him. The manuscript is titled, "Half Lives - The First Luisa Rey Mystery" and is the romanticized version of the third storyline. He arrives at the "hotel" his brother sent him to, which, only the next day, is revealed to be a nursing home for the elderly. Residents are treated as prisoners, and each attempt to get out is stopped by the staff (which is revealed to be the nursing home's primary purpose, to lock up troublesome relatives). With the assistance of three other residents, Cavendish eventually creates an escape plan and they manage to escape. Once he makes good on his escape, he writes a best-selling tale of his adventures, which is later made into a biopic. The fifth storyline is about Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae), a clone bred for work in a Papa Song fast-food restaurant in Korea (now called Neo Seoul) in the far future. In this stark future, she lives in a day-to-day world, each day identical to the next, existing only to serve food to "consumers," but her limited life is revealed to be less than she is capable of when another of the clones inadvertently awakens her from her daily slumber. Sonmi-451, through chance, discovers a fragment of the biopic film of "The Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish" on a cell-phone/PDA left at the Papa's Song fast-food restaurant. This film lays the seeds of the never-ending struggle against injustice. She starts to question all the things she has seen and experienced, including the believed purpose of her existence, from which other clones, and eventually she, will "ascend" after eleven years of work. When her friend, the other clone, is killed, she meets a man named Hae-Joo Im, who it is revealed was behind her friend, and then her, being exposed to something more than their day-to-day existence. They have been attempting to prove that the clones are the equal of "naturally born" humans ("purebloods"), hearkening back to the days of slavery. Hae-Joo rescues her from her life in the restaurant and begins teaching her about the outside world as well as philosophy, art, and "higher values." When they are captured by the authorities, he escapes, then rescues her from the authorities. He reveals he is actually a former member of the military who has become a member of a revolutionary organization, the Union, taking action against the oppressive government, that wishes to free the clones in Neo Seoul. Somni-451 is proof that the clones are capable of being more than mere slaves. He takes Sonmi-451 to meet the other revolutionaries, who arrange for her to learn what "ascension" really is, on a ship where they massacre the clones, only to reprocess them and use their bodies to feed the still-functioning clones. She agrees to assist the revolutionaries, knowing it means capture and death, by writing a Manifesto. They capture a broadcast facility, and reveal the truth, not just to all earth but to the offworld colonies as well. All of the revolutionaries, including Hae-Joo, but except Sonmi-451, are killed holding off the government's agents so that she can keep broadcasting her Manifesto. Sonmi-451 reveals all the above while being questioned by an agent of the government, who asks her why she did it all, when the government will make everyone believe it was false. She acknowledges that she goes to her execution calmly, believing that death is only a door, and knowing that one person -- her interviewer -- knows it is true, and that it will not be possible to suppress the Truth. The sixth and final storyline is about Zachry (Tom Hanks) who is a tribesman living in a low-tech post-apocalyptic Hawaii, 100 years after Neo Seoul has been swallowed by the sea. His people revere Sonmi and believe her to be holy. Meronym (Halle Berry), a member of a far more advanced group of people called the Prescients, asks to live with their tribe. Zachry's sister takes her in, and their relationship grows. Zachry is harboring his own secret, that he hid in cowardly shame while barbarians called the Kona killed his brother-in-law and his nephew. People suspect him, and he is largely an outcast, but his sister and his niece still accept and love him. Meronym wishes to cross the mountains to get to a place she believes is inland, but it is an area fraught with superstitious dread, and no one will take her there. When Zachry's beloved niece is taken fatally ill, and he realizes only Meronym has the ability to heal and save her, he agrees to lead her up the mountains to where she wants to go in exchange for Meronym's assistance. Zachry's fears, personified by his tribe's belief in a god of Death named Old Georgie, whisper to him that he must kill Meronym, that he is risking his tribe for an outsider. He rejects the impulses, seeing in Meronym something more and better than his fears can destroy. Meronym and Zachry succeed in reaching a large facility, and he is again pushed by Old Georgie to kill Meronym, and he again resists, but barely. Meronym reveals to Zachry that the world is dying, that all humans, even the Prescients, are doomed, unless they can reach the offworld colonies, if they still exist at all (most of the Prescients believe them to be dead and Meronym on a likely fool's errand). Meronym reveals that the place they are at is the same broadcast facility that Sonmi used to transmit her manifesto. She explains to him that his beliefs are not entirely true, that Sonmi was a human, not a goddess, and shows him pictures and things that prove it. They return to the valley of Zachry's clan, only to see smoke in the distance. Zachry realizes his tribe is under attack by the barbarian Kona and runs ahead to assist. When he arrives, everyone in his tribe is dead, and all the Kona appear to be gone. He sees his sister's dead body, then runs to their hut to find his niece. There he finds one lone barbarian lying in a drunken stupor, and he kills him in rage. He hears a noise and finds his niece hiding in a small niche. At the same time, the barbarians return looking for their clansman, and, seeing his horse outside the hut, begin to investigate. They see him lying there, throat freshly cut, and begin to search the hut for whoever killed him. Zachry and his niece flee, with the Kona in hot pursuit. The Kona catch up to them in the same woods where he hid in cowardice as his brother-in-law was killed. As he is about to die, in much the same place and position as his brother died (the story thus coming full circle), Meronym steps up from the place he hid in cowardice. She uses her advanced weapons and risks her own life to save him, and they kill the half-dozen Kona together. Meronym signals for her own people, and they accept Zachry and his niece in as their own, with Meronym's urging. Finally, it's shown that Zachry has been telling his tale to a large group of children, and that he married Meronym, and that the offworld colonies heard their broadcast, and came to rescue the survivors... and that he and Meronym are on another world entirely. One of the most important quotes in the film comes from Sonmi-451: "Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

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The 10 Best Historical Sci-Fi Movies, Ranked

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When one thinks of science fiction, one often associates the genre with futuristic settings and space operas like Star Wars , Star Trek , and Blade Runner , but this isn't always the case. Science fiction is a remarkably versatile genre, and its movies can make use of a variety of different settings, focusing on modern times or even the past with a technological or extra-terrestrial twist.

It certainly isn't as common for sci-fi to feature historical settings and characters, but it has happened before, which typically results in a thrilling adventure through time featuring aspects of fiction associated with the genre. These films always feel unique, as they present a different version of human history, one that is arguably much more exciting than the one that actually happened. These are the best historical sci-fi movies , outstanding retellings of historical events that present a new, fictional version of events.

10 'Cloud Atlas' (2012)

Directed by tom tykwer & the wachowskis.

Cloud Atlas is a sci-fi flick co-directed by the Wachowskis , who are also known for their 1999 smash-hit The Matrix . While Cloud Atlas is certainly not their best work, it's pretty good and remarkably ambitious, highly unique, and very interesting. The movie utilizes an ensemble of big actors playing multiple roles across several different eras, beginning in 1849 in New Zealand and culminating in a far-off future.

The film may start in the past, but using multiple time skips , it eventually flashes forward into the present and the near and distant future. All of these time skips feature multiple self-contained stories, which eventually come together to create a larger, overarching narrative. Cloud Atlas was criticized for being somewhat difficult to follow, which is understandable, but was praised for its ambition and for being consistently exciting. Cloud Atlas is truly a film like no other , and even if it isn't for everyone, it can definitely be appreciated by fans of historical sci-fi.

Cloud Atlas

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9 'The Prestige' (2006)

Directed by christopher nolan.

The Prestige is one of the best psychological thrillers of all time by renowned director Christopher Nolan . It centers on two competing magicians who are willing to risk everything to create the ultimate act that will wow audiences and cement their names in the history books. It takes place in Victorian London but still features many science-fiction aspects, namely featuring famed inventor Nikola Tesla , played by none other than David Bowie .

In this film, Tesla invents a teleportation device for one of the magicians, which should help him perform the ultimate disappearing act. However, his rival is hot on his heels and is willing to use any means necessary to bring him down, sabotage included. In typical Christopher Nolan fashion, The Prestige is a bit of a brain-breaker and warrants a rewatch to fully grasp, but that doesn't detract from its quality. It is a movie that takes a lot of twists and turns, exploring the dark parts of showbiz that persist today.

The Prestige

8 'back to the future part iii' (1990), directed by robert zemeckis.

The first Back to the Future movie is an absolute masterpiece that will likely be remembered for generations to come. While its two sequels didn't quite deliver the same amount of quality, they're still pretty good, although Back to the Future Part III is seen as the better of the two sequels. As with the first two films, the story follows Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ), who goes back in time using his friend Doc's ( Christopher Lloyd ) time-traveling car, this time to the Old American West.

With all of the classic charm of the first two films, Back to the Future Part III is an almost-perfect conclusion to the original trilogy that offers a blend of both the Western and the sci-fi genres . It's simple but a whole lot of fun, which is exactly what it should be because that's what made the first film so entertaining. There's good humor, great performances, and an outstanding screenplay that may be a little cheesy but is still nostalgic and uplifting.

Back to the Future Part III

7 'lola' (2022), directed by andrew legge.

LOLA stars Emma Appleton and Stefanie Martini as two orphaned sisters who grew up in the secluded English countryside during World War II. Thom (Appleton) had a lot of time to think in isolation, becoming an inventor and eventually producing a machine that can tap into radio and TV signals that have come from the future. The machine is dubbed "LOLA." However, this proves to be problematic for the sisters, as the British Army wants to weaponize this new technology for the war effort.

LOLA remains an underground science fiction masterpiece that is still waiting for its 15 minutes of fame.

Unique yet evasive, LOLA is kind of a difficult movie to get ahold of, as it's an independent film that never received any kind of mainstream attention. The found footage style and the Second World War setting create a perfect ambiance, enhanced by its monochrome and grainy visuals reminiscent of classic 40s flicks . Stylistic, thought/provoking, and endlessly creative, LOLA remains an underground science fiction masterpiece that is still waiting for its 15 minutes of fame.

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6 'Godzilla Minus One' (2023)

Directed by takashi yamazaki.

Godzilla has been one of the best and most famous kaiju franchises for 70 years. The original 1954 Japanese film was released during the Cold War and came as a sort of warning about the power of nuclear weapons. Godzilla was created as a result of nuclear testing, allowing him to rise from the seabed and wreak havoc on Tokyo. The franchise's most recent installment, Godzilla Minus One , takes the franchise back to its roots in post-war Japan and comes as a fantastic addition to the series' already impressive track record.

In this film, Godzilla emerges from the sea to destroy the land once again shortly following the end of World War II. A traumatized fighter pilot named Kōichi ( Ryunosuke Kamiki ) is the first to hop on a plane and fight this new threat before it is too late. Embodying the original's anti-war themes and its criticisms of nuclear warfare, Godzilla Minus One excels as a World War II movie , adding a layer of emotional and personal depth the franchise hadn't really seen before, making it not only exciting but heartfelt, too.

Godzilla Minus One

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5 'Prey' (2022)

Directed by dan trachtenberg.

Prey is a sci-fi horror prequel to the first Predator and follows an Indigenous woman named Naru ( Amber Midthunder ) who encounters the deadly alien species known as the Predator in what appears to be their first visit to Earth. The movie takes place in the early 18th Century in the Great Plains region of what would later become the United States.

Some of the other films in the Predator franchise have been pretty lackluster, but Prey maintains all the pulse-pounding action and tension of the original while utilizing an entirely new setting. Some considered it better than the first film, which is high praise, indeed. Prey is the best film the franchise has seen in years and brought new life to the series that fans were desperate for, marking a brilliant entry into the historical sci-fi genre and one of the best horror prequels ever made .

4 'The Iron Giant' (1999)

Directed by brad bird.

The Iron Giant is a criminally underrated animated feature that never got the attention it deserves. Set at the peak of the Cold War, it follows young Hogarth ( Eli Marienthal ), who stumbles with a gigantic robot ( Vin Diesel ) one day while exploring. Hogarth is a lonely boy, so it is only a matter of time before he develops a strong friendship with the robot, which comes to be known as "the Giant." Unbeknownst to Hogarth, however, the Giant was created as a weapon by one of the world's competing superpowers and reacts aggressively if it perceives anything as a threat.

Their unconventional friendship is super wholesome, evading government investigators and engaging in a whole bunch of shenanigans. The Giant knows he is a weapon, but Hogarth insists that so long as he is free of military control, he can be whatever he chooses to be. The ending is absolutely heart-wrenching but remarkably hopeful, and its themes of friendship and sacrifice are brilliantly executed. Sweet yet emotionally moving, The Iron Giant utilizes its historical setting to the fullest to tell a timeless story. Sadly, it was robbed of the spotlight and has only seen popularity in recent years thanks to the growing popularity of the internet.

The Iron Giant

3 'poor things' (2023), directed by yorgos lanthimos.

Poor Things takes place in London during the Victorian Era and stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a previously deceased woman brought back to life via brain transplant. Unfortunately, the brain used is that of a fetus, giving Bella the cognitive capacity of an infant. As such, Bella pretty much has to learn about the world all over again, functioning as an entirely different person trapped in someone else's body.

Premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, Poor Things received the Golden Lion . It also has a star-studded cast of Willem Dafoe , Mark Ruffalo , and Ramy Youssef, among others, so it's full of magnificent performances from experienced and established actors. Critically, it was also a huge success and was commended for how imaginative it was and for Stone's tour de force, Oscar-winning performance. Like most Yorgos Lanthimos movies, Poor Things i s weird, daring, original, slightly off-putting, touching, and unforgettable .

Poor Things

2 '20,000 leagues under the sea' (1954), directed by richard fleischer.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea takes place in 1868 and follows a professor and his assistant, accompanied by a Canadian harpooner, who are dispatched to the Atlantic to investigate legends of a sea monster purportedly attacking ships. Coming across it, they discover it is not a sea monster at all but a submarine called the Nautilus . The sub's captain, an eccentric man named Nemo ( James Mason ), invites them on board to embark upon a voyage, where they observe many mysterious and impossible sights.

The film is based on a classic novel by Jules Verne and had the rare privilege of being filmed in Technicolor, which was definitely not typical of the time. While movies adapted from books can often stray pretty far from the source material, this one remains surprisingly faithful and takes viewers on a cinematic journey like no other. Like its source material, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was revolutionary for its time , and while it's not as talked about nowadays, it is still an eye-popping adventure that is sure to get the heart racing.

20000 Leagues Under the Sea

1 'frankenstein' (1931), directed by james whale.

Frankenstein is an all-time classic historical horror movie that needs no introduction. Based on an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley , Frankenstein revolves around the titular scientist ( Colin Clive ) who builds an artificial body, cobbled together using pieces of other corpses, to create a living monster ( Boris Karloff ). However, the monster is seen as an abomination by the surrounding townsfolk, causing him to be shunned from society and mercilessly hunted down.

Taking place at an unspecified point in the 19th Century in the Bavarian Alps of Germany, Frankenstein became one of the most legendary horror movies of all time and a pioneering figure in the genre. The monster himself has appeared in over a dozen films and has remained a topic of hot philosophical debate, given the ethical implications of his creation, followed by the manhunt that ensues. The movie is brilliant and has all the hallmarks of what makes classic horror films great, making this easily the greatest historical sci-fi film of all time , as well as one of the greatest movies of all time, period.

Frankenstein (1931)

NEXT: The 10 Best Historical Fantasy Movies, Ranked

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