‘Swan Song’ movie review: Mahershala Ali breathes life into this nuanced story of love, loss and legacy
The Hindu
Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris shine in Apple TV+’s fantasy drama ‘Swan Song’ that deals with mortality in a poetic and almost eulogic way
Cloning oneself has been a done-to-death plot device Hollywood has availed till there is not a scrap of DNA left to salvage. Finding out you’re terminally ill and must plan for your death is another overwrought storyline that has long been mummified. Merge these two and I could only imagine the dull and predictable turns such a film would take.
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Writer-director Benjamin Cleary’s Swan Song dispels that notion very quickly. The film follows a talented artist Cameron Turner (Mahershala Ali) who finds out he will die soon and decides to spare his family the pain and grief, turning to a company to clone himself. The caveat? He is not allowed to reveal to any of his loved ones that the clone exists at all. Rather than a mess of science-fiction riddled with bullets and punches, the story is elevated by heart and soul.