(lock clinking)
(door squeaks)
(pattering footsteps) (gentle, quiet music)
(door clatters) (lock clinking)
(gentle, quiet music)
(curtain rattles) (gentle, quiet music)
(door clatters) (gentle, quiet music)
(water hissing) (gentle, quiet music)
(tape rattles)
- [Man On TV] There's an old joke,
uh, two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort
(clears throat) and one of them says,
"Boy, the food in this place is really terrible."
And the other one says, "Yeah, I know,
"and such small portions."
Well, that's essentially how I feel about life,
full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness
and it's all over much too quickly.
(machine whirring)
You know, lately the strangest things
are going through my mind 'cause I turned 40
and I guess I'm going through a life crisis or something.
I don't know, and I'm not worried about aging,
I'm not one of those characters, you know,
although I'm balding slightly on top.
That's about the worst you can say about me.
I think I'm gonna get better as I get older.
You know, I think I'm gonna be the balding virile type,
you know, as opposed to say the distinguished gray.
You know, unless I'm neither of those two,
unless I'm one of those guys,
saliva dripping out of his mouth,
wanders into a cafeteria with a shopping bag
and screaming about socialism.
(TV hissing)
(door rattles)
- Shit.
(door squeaks) Shit.
(thumping footsteps)
(distant dog barking)
Hey.
(door squeaks) (clatters)
- Stopped by the university to surprise you.
I ran into your grad assistant.
The one with the floppy hair.
What's his name?
- Shane? - Right.
Shane.
I asked him where you were and he said he had no idea.
Waited in your office for,
hours.
Then I had this crazy thought.
So I head here and
surprise.
- [Anna] Harper.
- What the hell is this?
- It's an algae.
It's related to this species in Michigan
that's dated to at least 10,000 years old.
It can repair the ends of its DNA strands
that normally unravel with age.
It has to do with a unique genomic expression
that enables it replicate its own telomeres,
so every time the cells divide,
(laughs) It sets back the clock.
I mean its lifespan is--
- What are you doing to him?
- He's fine, he is better than fine.
- Bullshit.
Look at him.
He's supposed to be in a facility
with nurses and fucking doctors,
not being a human guineapig for whatever the hell this is.
It's mad scientist shit-- - I'm not!
It's not mad science.
- Really?
Have you looked around?
- This is serious research.
It is too important for me to--
- He doesn't understand what you're doing to him!
- [Anna] Harper.
- What's behind here?
(curtains rattle) - Careful!
You'll contaminate the workspace.
- Where'd you get all this stuff?
What'd you buy it on Amazon?
- Some of it, yeah.
- Where'd you get the money?
- I just bought the small stuff.
Some of it I took out of university storage and the rest,
they wouldn't fund the research.
No one takes it seriously.
- I thought you were having an affair.
- Never.
- Do you know what day it is?
- Thursday,
April 12th.
Oh shit!
Oh, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot.
It was so sweet of you to try to surprise me.
(thumping footsteps)
(door creaks)
(pattering footsteps)
I,
tweaked a gene from the algae
and I'm using an adeno virus
to insert it into the rat cells.
Lab rats usually live to be two years old.
This one's name is Mustache, it just turned four.
That's double the normal lifespan.
This one's name is Muppet. (laughs)
She's three and a half.
And this is Rags.
Rags just turned five and a half.
Harper, that is three times the normal lifespan,
and by all objective measure,
his body is younger than the day I started treatment.
- So what does that mean?
- These animals have stopped aging.
- And him?
- It's a human variant.
- Of what, a cure for death?
- Well potentially, yes.
- He barely even remembers who he is.
Why would you wanna prolong it?
- He'll never be like he was, but,
he could, theoretically, regain some brain function,
enough to be aware.
Maybe even speak again.
And it'll prove it works on humans
without having to wait years to monitor my own aging.
- What?
Are you injecting yourself with this stuff?
(gasps emotionally) For how long?
- 143 days now.
- (exasperated sigh) Five months?
(Harper crying)
Mm mm, I can't be a part of it.
- You don't have to be, I just have to finish this study
so I can share my findings-- - No, no.
(sighs) This,
the lies, the fucking insanity,
I can't be with you. (crying)
- No no no no, wait wait!
If this works,
think about how much time we'll have together.
- [Harper] Anna--
- We're gonna have a baby.
- What baby?
I was supposed to have my IVF counsel months ago.
- We will schedule it tomorrow, I promise.
- It takes weeks to book those.
- We'll figure it out, just,
Harper,
you are gonna be such a good mom.
(container clatters)
(thumping footsteps)
(rat chirping quietly)
(door slams)
(distant engine revs) (humming)
(Anna crying)
- Anna.
- Dad? (gasps)
(gentle, dramatic music)