Movie Story Time | I AM MORTAL (2021)

 Movie Story Time | I AM MORTAL (2021)

The premise of the movie is set far in the future.  Because of excessive and unethical use of natural resources, the world faces a new pandemic every year that kills billions of people. Humans have started to see life as a curse as they can catch a deadly virus and die anytime. Then one day, amidst all the disaster, a  scientist named Pilot comes as a blessing to humankind. He makes a genetic discovery that can turn humans immortal, giving people hope to live in a fairytale void of the fear of death. In a short time, he invents the practical use of the discovery and the remainder of the human race transforms into eternal beings. 

The scene changes two hundred years in the future. The system of immortality has changed now. Only a select group of people who live inside a  domed city get a chance to go through a process called the freeze which makes them immortal.  The pilot runs the entire city and has hundreds of employees working for him to maintain order. People at a young age are brought to the domed area and are evaluated by the Pilot himself. He pinpoints the moment in their life when they are at their peak which is when they get to freeze.  For most people, this age is around twenty-five but it can vary from person to person. Hence, the domed city is filled with immortals and people looking to be immortals in the future. Then, we are introduced to the protagonist of the film Logos. He is being moved into the city alongside multiple people excited about their transformation. Unlike them, Logos has many questions in his heart. He doubts that immortality is a gift humans need because to him,  death is what binds life together. Without death, there is no living; there is just existing. Despite such concerns on his mind Logos enters the city, hoping to find answers. On his second day in the city, he is approached by a woman named Poker. She has sensed that he has been questioning immortality and is here to invite him to a group; one that is made of more people like him. She hands him a box that is supposed to take him to the said group without being tracked. The pilot and his right-hand man Armaros are watching the surveillance footage when they see the box and find it suspicious. The pilot asks Armaros to find out what the box is.  

Somewhere else, a tour guide Akae is telling a bunch of new citizens about the process of freezing. One of the new citizens inquires about someone who used to work closely with Pilot. Akae reveals that there was once a man who was as smart and intelligent as Pilot. They were partners until the man protested against the system of immortality and his memory was wiped clean as a result. No one knows where he is now but rumor has it that he has invented a program to end the entire immortality system before disappearing. Akae is later approached by Armaros who takes her to meet Pilot virtually. The man wants Akae to spy on Logos and find out what he is up to. Since she is a guide looking to be promoted into a guardian,  it is a perfect way to test her abilities. In the following scene, Akae catches Logos and Psuker together and eavesdrops on their conversation. But a smart Psuker already knows they are being watched. She talks to Logos in circles and tells him to come to the church later but to Akae, it sounds like a normal friendly conversation. Later, Pilot is told this but he refuses to let go of the matter. He again asks Akae to continue to spy on Logos and make a  report about all his activities. To do so, Akae has to be close to him, hence she approaches him the next time she finds him alone. She comments on the book he is reading and starts a conversation about immortality right away. Logos asks her if she believes the things she tells her students as their guides. It makes Akae think and she registers that she doesn’t have an answer. The following day, she appoints a set of twin sisters to spy in Logos when she is not around. The twins are also hoping to be promoted so they accept the job in an instant. At the same time, Logos goes to the Church and meets Poker. After confirming that no one has followed him, he is allowed inside. A man named Masim welcomes him in and introduces him to a programmer and scientist  Medorin. Everyone in the group is like Logos;  they question the immorality system and are unsatisfied with the Pilot’s method. It is then revealed that people are given a dosage of a drug named maintenance every day to supposedly prepare themselves for the freezing process. But the group has found out that the drug makes them submissive, suppressing human emotions and instincts. They cannot love or hate which makes them incapable of protesting against what they dislike. It is almost as if they are bred to become Pilot’s slaves. Everyone who takes the maintenance drug is the same but for some reason, Logos seems to be immune to it which is why he has thoughts outside of the benefits of immortality.  

The scientist Medorin has found a diary made by Pilot’s former partner and is replicating the virus that will overturn immortality. The group’s primary goal is to make people realize that they can feel happiness and sorrow so they protest against the system and end Pilot’s rule. In the following scene, Pilot is with his teenage daughter Amanda. She inquires about his ex-partner and reveals that his name was Helius.  Amanda is a curious girl, she has many questions about the system her father runs which normal citizens would not be allowed to ask. In a way,  she is like Logos and the others from the group and Pilot has started to realize it as well. In the morning, Logos wakes up because of a nightmare. He has been having a recurring dream where he is in the desert wearing a hazmat suit. The dream always ends with him struggling to breathe and passing out. Akae is adamant about the promotion and is willing to do anything to complete the task Pilot has given her. That day, she approaches  Logos again posing as someone who wants to be his friend. However, in the middle of the conversation, she asks him if he takes the maintenance drugs that prepare him for the freezing process. Logos is taken aback by the question but he lies and says yes. After some time, he is with the group that is planning to disturb the flow of maintenance drugs by changing the code which can be done from the capitol building. This is sure to show people how it is to feel human emotions. But to recode, they need access to the underground tunnels of the capitol building. Logos remembers that Akae works in the capital and her card can be used to gain access to areas that are otherwise not open to the general public. He goes to meet her and asks her if she takes her maintenance drug. Before she answers, the twins interrupt them. We see Armaros asking Akae what Logos was talking about but she lies to him and claims that he just came to say hi. Logos’ question remains on her mind for the rest of the day, hence, she eventually goes to meet him. He trusts her and brings her to the rest of the group, revealing every step of their plan and their goal to someone who has been sent to spy on them. Akae is shocked but she composes herself. Even after finding out how Pilot is controlling them, she doesn’t comprehend the severity of the situation, thanks to the maintenance drug she has been consuming every day. Akae is even more stunned when the group asks her to help them with their plan. She is given some time to think it over but she takes this opportunity to tell Armaros everything she discovered. Surprisingly enough, he remains calm for someone who has been told about a  rebel group who wants to end his boss’s rule.  Armaros asks Akae to return to the group and agrees to help. Even though she fears being caught, she trusts Armaros to get her out of any unmanageable situation. In the meantime, we see Pilot talking to  Amanda again. She inquires about what it was like when he lost her mother. Pilot is fed  up with her asking him the same questions but he replies that it was devastating. He also reveals that one time, Amanda was close to death and he thought his life was  ending with hers. This is the reason he and Helius worked hard to create the genetic coding  method. However, Pilot claims Helius was jealous that he got all the credit which caused a rift  in their friendship. After hearing everything he has to say, Amanda comments that the last part  changes every time he tells her the story.  Then, we see Akae come to the rebel  group offering help. They create an elaborate plan and assign specific tasks  to everyone before finally executing it.  But when they sneak into the building and are  about to enter the tunnel, an alarm rings. This is actually Akae and Armaros’s  plan to separate Logos from the rest of the group and arrest him. It works and  eventually, he is captured and taken into the medical room. The doctors perform a memory  wipe on him causing him to forget everything. Akae feels terrible for doing what she did  to Logos. After finding out that his memory was wiped, she protests that she wants to  meet him but Pilot warns her to do only the things she is asked to. Moreover, her presence  might trigger some memories in him. Akae is distressed for a few hours before the twins  inform her that they saw Logos earlier.  

Akae runs to meet him but he fails to  recognize her. He has also been given a heavier dosage of the maintenance medicine which  has turned him into an immortal. He doesn’t feel  any pain or happiness. In Akae’s head,  he is a living dead, not an immortal. It is then revealed that Akae has also not  been taking her maintenance drug since the day she was told about Pilot’s true intention. She  finally realizes that she has made a huge mistake and runs to meet the rest of the group. Akae cries, apologizes, and begs for forgiveness but the group doesn’t trust her anymore. She then  tells them about Logos and how he has been changed into a robot without memories. After repeatedly  promising that she has realized the truth, the  group counts her in as their teammate again. In the next scene, they abduct Logos from  a mental facility he was being kept  in. They begin recovering him while Pilot finds out about the disappearance. He also discovers that Akae was involved and blames Armaros for not being careful enough  with the people he employs. Somewhere else, after talking to Akae for a few hours, Logos  finally starts getting glimpses of the past. Although he still has a lot to remember, he  figures out the group’s purpose and is happy to rejoin them. In the following scene, the  group is planning to continue their plan to hack and reprogram the maintenance system. Since  Akae is not a member of the capitol anymore, she asks for help from the twins. It works and  they gain access to the underground facility.  

They are eventually successful in changing and  overriding the program. While they are at it, the group is fortunate enough to  find diffusers that can be used to turn people from immortal to mortal. Then, we see the entire group escaping the city. They take shelter in between the  mountains by building tents. Suddenly Logos has an epiphany and uses the diffuser  on himself, desperate to feel emotions. He passes out right after which scares  everyone. The doctor of the group helps him and he returns to consciousness in a  few hours. Akae, who was scared for him, finally admits that she has started to like him.  Logos also tells her that he feels the same. In the following scene, The group finds out  that Pilot is launching a new program today that will strengthen his hold on humans. He  wants to deliver a live message to his people but the system is hacked by the group. Instead of Pilot, Logos appears on the  screen and tells the people everything about  Pilot’s unethical way of controlling everyone. He asks them to think freely at least  once and promises that everything will be crystal clear to them after that. The people rile up on hearing the long speech. 

Armaros tells Pilot that they must stop the group as soon as possible but Pilot is cool as a cucumber, assuming that his system can never and the general public can do nothing. After that, Akae comes into their view with the diffuser. She uses it and turns herself into a mortal. At last, comes Amanda with a twist. She reveals that before dying, Helius stored his cerebral data; his emotions, his thoughts, ideologies, and so on in a hard drive which has been downloaded into her brain. In other words, she is Helius. In the last scene,  Akae narrates that Amanda is the key to returning humans to their natural form. She is hopeful the group will soon be contacted by her.