Welcome to Movie Shortens. Follow us today to a 2009 American science fiction
action film called: Surrogates. Before we start, be aware: there are spoilers!
In the near future, the technology exists, where now 98% of the population are able to
operate a synthetic body with their minds rather than go out into the world and perform tasks
themselves. These bodies are known as Surrogates. However, there are some people, known as Dreads,
who disagree with this technology and have established surrogacy free camps throughout the
country. They are led by a man named The Prophet who preaches that people have been sold a lie.
A guy named Jared /jeh-red/ is being driven to the opera but decides that he doesn’t want to go
and asks the driver to take him to a club instead. Jared dives into the crowd and
dances with the other clubbers. He finds a girl who he takes outside. As they kiss,
a man approaches and reaches inside his bag. Jared tells him to get lost. There is a flash of light
and the man rides away on a motorbike. He causes a car to swerve and crash and soon after we see a
damaged surrogate lying in the wreckage. Agents Greer & Peters arrive from the FBI
to investigate Jared - who is an unregistered unit. Jared’s eyes and ID chip have been fried.
The girl has not been reported as missing by her operator which they find strange. They go to visit
the operator who is a man named Kim. His dead body is discovered. Greer plays back the last
few moments before Kim’s surrogate was destroyed. They have never seen anything like this before.
Greer returns to his apartment where he sets down a glass of water for his own operator. He climbs
into his charging unit and his operator awakes. He wanders around his apartment - looking forlornly
at a child's bedroom. He meets his wife’s surrogate, Maggie, in the hall and they go to
make breakfast. He suggests that they go somewhere on holiday together and leave their surrogates at
home. He complains that they don’t spend much time together these days but she corrects him that,
as surrogates, they do. She leaves for work. Two guys enter Jared’s college room and find his
dead body laying there in the same condition as Kim’s. The Pathologists report that their brains
were liquefied in their skulls and whatever happened to their surrogates, killed them.
Greer views Jared’s last moments and they see the suspect. They try to view the weapon and suspect
that this may be the first homicide in a long time. They suddenly receive a phone call from
Jared’s next of kin - his father - Lionel Canter - who originally invented surrogates. It is
reported on the news that Canter was forced out of the VSI company seven years ago.
The Agents go to see Dr Canter and meet with one of his surrogates. The surrogate looks similar to
Jared. Canter reveals that he encouraged his son to borrow his own surrogates and used it as a way
to be able to spend time with him. Peters reminds him that it is a felony to inhabit a surrogate
registered to another operator. Greer reveals that he also lost his son and asks if he has
any idea why someone would wish to hurt Jared or himself. Canter opines that if they were after
him, then he is responsible for his son’s death. The surrogate shuts down as Canter breaks down.
The Agents then go to VSI headquarters and meet with Victor Welch from Corporate Relations. It
appears that he knows Agent Stone - their immediate supervisor. They quickly ask how
a surrogate's head might explode from inside but the legal representatives prevent any clear
answers. Greer is frustrated with the interview and they walk out. Rather than leave, they go to
the engineering department and meet an engineer named Steinberg, who tells them that for an ID
chip to become that damaged, every circuit must have fired off at once. He has only seen something
similar when some soldiers recently returned from service and a couple of them were missing optics.
They go to look at them and they notice that there is no damage to the bodies. Steinberg
reveals that they came back with no ID chip. The Agents then go to see Colonel Brendon and
ask him if a weapon is being developed that could destroy the surrogates. He says that he would know
if such a weapon existed and that they routinely remove motherboards and optics for analysis.
Back at the FBI headquarters, Peters has discovered the identity of the shooter - Miles
Strickland. He is already in the system as a criminal but has been let off so she suspects
that someone on the inside is protecting him. He is tracked in Boston and the agents are informed.
A guy named Bobby tells Peters that he can access any online surrogate from his control room.
Bobby is not a surrogate and demonstrates how he can disconnect any operator from their
surrogate. She says that it cannot be legal but Bobby tells her that it is a gray area.
Greer is in a helicopter pursuing Strickland. He is warned that he is in restricted airspace
but he ignores the warning. Strickland is trapped by the cops but takes out the weapon
which destroys all the surrogate cops. Greer watches from above and Strickland aims it at the
helicopter. Greer disconnects from his surrogate just in time to avoid being killed by the weapon.
He reconnects as the helicopter crashes and is thrown clear but loses a limb in the process. He
picks up his gun with his other arm and chases Strickland, who realizes that the weapon is
now malfunctioning. Greer catches up with him and demands the bag but he is in a surrogacy free camp
surrounded by Dreads and is shot at. Operator Greer climbs out of his station in pain. Peters
is admonished by Stone for not controlling Greer and is ordered to clock out for the day. At home,
Maggie returns and finds Greer in pain. The Prophet comes to see Strickland and asks
who gave him the weapon. He denies knowing who it was. The Prophet appears on the news
saying that the surrogates have declared war by entering their territory.
In the hospital, Greer regains consciousness. He is visited by Stone and is told that he is lucky
to be alive. He has been suspended from duty and Stone is taking over the case. He
will not receive a new surrogate until after the investigation. Greer leaves the hospital
where he is met by Peters. He is a little anxious being around people for the first time in ages.
Greer heads back to the place where his surrogate was destroyed. He watches Strickland’s body being
cremated and then asks to speak with the Prophet. He is beaten but tells the Prophet that he needs
to get the weapon back. The Prophet tells him that, should he find such a weapon, he will return
it. Greer is then removed from their territory before the Prophet goes to examine the weapon.
On his way home, Greer is offered a lift by one of Canter’s surrogates. Greer reveals that he lost
his son in a car accident. Although Greer assures Canter that the man who killed Jared is dead,
Canter retorts that the technology was way beyond the capability of the Dreads. Greer is ordered to
focus on where the weapon came from. When he returns home, he finds a group of
surrogates partying with Maggie. Greer tries to fight with some but they mock him for his
weakness. As he walks out, Maggie chases after him and asks what he wants. He says that he wants his
wife. She claims that she is his wife but he means that he wants the woman that is in the room - not
this thing. She walks away into her room and looks at the figure laying in the bed - old and scarred.
She disconnects and the operator starts to cry. Greer goes to the FBI headquarters to investigate
VSI. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure goes to Peters’ house, kills her and transfers
the surrogate operator to another person. Peters’ surrogate steps out of her dock.
Greer goes to see Brendan and asks about the weapon. He tells Greer that it is an overload
device designed to end the battle with one shot, by releasing a software virus direct to the CPU
to disable the surrogate immediately. They didn’t know that it would also kill the operator. It was
made by VSI but Brendan believes that all were destroyed. Greer reveals that The Prophet has one
of the weapons and Brendan appears horrified. He tells Greer that will handle this.
The Prophet gives the weapon to two men who are instructed to deliver it to Agent Peters.
Stone catches Peters in a filing cabinet who tells him that she is investigating VSI. He
tells her that she is looking in the payroll files and he directs her to the correct area.
Greer visits Maggie’s surrogate at work and apologizes for the night before.
He tells her that he loves her but can’t sleep because he keeps thinking about his son.
Maggie retorts that she also doesn’t sleep but the only reason she can get up and out
of the house any more is because this is who she is now. Greer tries to continue but Maggie
disconnects and reaches for some tablets. The military arrives to retrieve the weapon.
The Prophet is preaching to the people. They start to shoot at the surrogate soldiers
but are easily overcome. However, it is revealed that the Prophet is, in fact,
a surrogate himself - controlled by Canter. Peters tells Greer that she has discovered
that Strickland was on the payroll and Stone hired him to kill Canter.
Greer returns to Headquarters and tells them that he is here to clear his desk.
He announces in front of everyone that Victor Welch from VSI says hello. Stone brings Greer
into his office and Greer confronts him with what he knows. Stone got the weapon from VSI,
hired Strickland to kill Canter, only he killed Canter’s son by mistake. Stone tries to call
for help but Greer disables him and accesses his optics, downloading confidential files.
Stone’s operator calls other Agents to stop Greer from leaving but they are too late. Greer jumps
into a car with Peters. He discovers that VSI wanted Canter dead as he is in league with the
Prophet - funding the anti-surrogacy movement. Peters says that Stone needed access codes
to use the weapon so asks him to find them. He finds them quickly and then she crashes the
car. Peters takes the weapon but Greer climbs into the driver's seat and chases after her. He
crashes into a shop front but when the FBI arrives to apprehend him, he hides amongst
surrogate bodies. Greer steals another car and calls Bobby to ask for Peters to be disconnected.
However, Peters is already with him tapping into the entire surrogate network. He calls Maggie to
tell her to disconnect immediately as something is going to happen. Stone arrives to see Peters
and she asks if her old partners at VSI paid him well. Stone realizes that she is being operated
on by Canter. He asks if the plan is to take them all back to living like Dreads. She replies that
Canter plans to take them all back to being like humans before she kills Stone with the weapon.
Greer arrives to see Canter and has to get past some surrogates while Peters continues to upload
the virus to the network. Canter speaks with him but has to disconnect from Peters to do so.
He tells him that he is going to take back what he invented by killing mankind. The virus
upload has completed and Canter ends his life. Greer takes over the operator status for Peters
and releases Bobby. Bobby gives instructions
for how to insulate the operators from the surrogates. After this is done, Greer decides
not to save the surrogates from destruction just before the military enters and shoots Peters dead.
All surrogates are shut down. The operators begin to emerge out into the world again.
Greer returns home to find that Maggie is out of her room. They touch for the first time
in a long while. The news reports that the entire surrogate service
has been shut down. It appears that - at least for now - that they are on their own.
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