Ready to have your mind blown by those expert purveyors of heady sci-fi, the Wachowskis,
and an all-star cast? Netflix is about to add a movie that may interest you.
2012's Cloud Atlas will be available to watch on the streamer starting on July 1, 2020,
and if you've never seen it, you're in for a treat. For that matter, if you have seen
it, you'll probably want to watch it again, because getting your head all the way around
the movie upon first viewing is no small feat.
It's also no small feat to provide a synopsis for this movie. It's an absolutely sprawling
work, telling a series of interconnected stories which take place over the course of nearly
five centuries. Every member of the main cast plays multiple roles as the movie jumps across
different time periods. Many of them at times appear in heavy makeup, with a different actor
filling the story's "lead" role after each time jump.
"This is the music I heard in my head. Somehow I gave it to you."
Love it or hate it, critics agree that Cloud Atlas is a wildly unconventional film. It's
an outcome one might have expected from an adaptation of author David Mitchell's similarly
dense and ambitious 2004 novel.
It's also the only one of the Wachowskis' films on which they collaborated with another
credited writer and director: Tom Tykwer. Tykwer is the filmmaker behind the visionary
cult film Run Lola Run, who also worked with the sisters on their own cult favorite Netflix
series Sense8.
On top of having three directors steering the ship, Cloud Atlas also sports a ridiculously
stacked cast, and they all acquit themselves quite well, despite the fact that they're
each tasked with filling five or six distinct roles.
The film takes place in six different time periods, with the first segment opening in
the Pacific Islands in 1849. From there, Cloud Atlas jumps forward in time to 1936, and then
to 1973, 2012, 2144, and finally all the way to 2321. Each new story connects with the
one that came before it, and characters' actions in one story continue to influence events
decades into the future.
"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others."
But in spite of its cast and the involvement of the Wachowskis, Cloud Atlas was a significant
flop upon its release. The $100 million picture managed only about $130 million at the worldwide
box office, which amounted to a substantial loss for Warner Brothers once marketing and
promotion costs were figured in.
The film likely wasn't helped by the complexity of its narrative and utter refusal to hold
the hands of its audience, not to mention its nearly three-hour run time. Of course,
while such complaints can help to sink a film's theatrical performance, they're often mitigated
by the home viewing experience. So if the movie's length dissuaded you from catching
it in the theater, here's your chance to give it the day on court it deserves.
The flick received mixed-to-positive reviews, but among those critics to offer virtually
unreserved praise was the great Roger Ebert, who passed away only six months after its
release. In his four-star review, Ebert wrote:
"I was never, ever bored by Cloud Atlas...Oh, what a film this is! And what a demonstration
of the magical, dreamlike qualities of the cinema."
Now, it's understandable that some may question whether another Cloud Atlas movie is in the
cards, even with how divisive it was amongst critics when it first debuted. While there
haven't been any talks about making a straight-up sequel, fans of the film may take heart in
knowing that the book upon which it's based is one of many penned by author David Mitchell.
The British writer released two novels following Cloud Atlas, 2014's The Bone Clocks and 2015's
Slade House, both of which are said to be subtly connected to Cloud Atlas. In October
2015, The Daily Beast even described Slade House as a, quote, "scary new sequel to Cloud
Atlas," as well as a sequel of sorts to Bone Clocks, considering they're all connected.
Whether either of those novels get the film adaptation treatment in the future remains
to be seen, but if they do, Mitchell may very well be supportive of it. After all, he went
on record in October 2012 to express his satisfaction with what the Wachowskis and Tykwer had done
in adapting his work. In a post published to The Wall Street Journal, Mitchell wrote:
"Adaptation is a form of translation, and all acts of translation have to deal with
untranslatable spots...When asked whether I mind the changes made during the adaptation
of Cloud Atlas, my response is [this]: The filmmakers speak fluent film language, and
they've done what works."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite
movies and TV shows are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so
you don't miss a single one.