An unusual love story about fate and the rebound in molecular biology. All related to the iris in your eyes. On board Ipad for viewing supplied by Qantas from Melbourne. Worth a look if you are into the unexplained. Or just run 42 km with your right knee in pain for the last 24km.
| Directed by | Mike Cahill |
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| Produced by | Mike Cahill
Hunter Gray
Alex Orlovsky |
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| Written by | Mike Cahill |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | Will Bates
Phil Mossman |
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| Cinematography | Markus Forderer |
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| Edited by | Mike Cahill |
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Production
company
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- Verisimilitude
- WeWork Studios
- Bersin Pictures
- Penny Jane Films
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| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
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Release dates
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- January 18, 2014 (Sundance)
- July 18, 2014 (United States)
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Running time
| 106 minutes[1] |
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| Country | United States |
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| Language | English |
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QUOTE
A graduate student, Ian Gray, is researching the evolution of human eyes with Karen, his first year lab assistant, and Kenny. He has a particular hostility to superstition and "
intelligent design", which he hopes to discredit by filling in the steps of
the evolution of the eye. At a Halloween party he has an encounter with Sofi, who is wearing a mask. He photographs her eyes and they go into the washroom to have sex. Abruptly she leaves.
Ian continues thinking about her. One day, coincidences seem to mysteriously guide him to a billboard displaying what he recognizes to be Sofi's eyes. Eventually he sees her on a train. They begin a relationship, although his rationalism clashes with her fey spirituality. One day they agree to marry. They are told they need to wait a day for a licence, and Ian gets a call from Karen at the lab. There has been a breakthrough in their research. She's found a blind worm —
Eisenia fetida — with the DNA to develop an eye. Ian takes Sofi to the lab with him.
Sofi is upset by the research they're doing and Karen leaves. Sofi kisses Ian and knocks over a bottle of formaldehyde, splashing his eyes. They call Karen, who helps him to the eyewash station and bandages his eyes, and Sofi takes him home. Then the elevator in Sofi's apartment building stops between floors. As they try to climb out the elevator starts to move again and Sofi is killed. Ian goes into a depression, and Karen continues their research. One night Karen brings him a meal at his home. He begins to cry and she hugs him. They begin to kiss.
The film flashes forward seven years. Ian has written a book on the evolution of the eye that he claims further debunks creationism. Ian and Karen are now married and Karen is pregnant. When their baby is born, the hospital takes an
iris scan of him. The results are entered in the database and the program identifies the baby as a certain Paul Edgar Dairy. The nurse re-enters the results and the problem disappears.
A few months later, a Doctor Simmons calls, claiming that a test of the baby's urine may indicate an elevated risk of
autism and recommending a further test. But Ian and Karen become suspicious during this test and decide to investigate Doctor Simmons. They find that she is in fact one of a few people with full access to the iris scan database. Ian tracks some pictures from this test to Idaho where he stumbles on the family of Paul Edgar Dairy, who apparently died just before their baby was conceived.
Ian's former research partner, Kenny, is the creator of the iris database. He helps Ian and Karen run some photos of deceased people's eyes through the database to see if there are any recent matches. They get a hit for Sofi, whose iris scan matches one made in India just three months prior, years after Sofi's death.
Ian goes to India to find the subject of this scan. There he finds Priya, the head of the community centre where the iris scan was made. Priya recognizes Sofi's eyes as those of a girl she knows, named Salomina, and agrees to help. Ian and Priya begin searching for Salomina, who is an orphan and seems to have disappeared into the crowds of the city. Ian tries putting up a billboard showing Sofi's eyes and offering a cash reward. He is besieged with calls but none are credible. Weeks later he comes across a little girl staring at the billboard. It is Salomina. He takes her back to his hotel and contacts Karen over
Skype. The two of them conduct a simple test designed to reveal if Salomina might be somehow linked with Sofi. At first Salomina is uncannily accurate, but in the end her results are within the probable range of random chance. Karen asks him how he feels about this and he says he feels foolish. Ian then leaves the hotel room with Salomina to take her to Priya but when they reach the elevator, Salomina panics and throws herself into his arms. They cling to each other, crying, and he picks her up and takes her down the stairs instead.
A
post-credits scene shows Dr. Simmons scanning the irises of famous deceased figures, apparently finding matches.
UNQUOTE
