“LX 2048”

Susan Granger’s review of “LX 2048” (Quiver Distribution/Chimera Pictures)

It’s the year 2048 and mankind still hasn’t figured out if there’s life after death. But there is a new insurance program called Premium 3 for parents of three children or more.

If you or your spouse dies during child-rearing years, a clone will take your place. Not only will this clone will have all the memories and knowledge to raise your children but the surviving spouse can ‘tailor’ it to preferred specifications – making it “better.”

Since Earth’s ozone layer has been destroyed and it’s toxic for humans to go outside during the day, people go to school and/or work at night, and almost everything takes place in a virtual realm. Not surprisingly, mental depression has become so widespread that everyone regularly swallows a 001-LithiumX pill.

But Adam Bird (James D’Arcy) is different. He awakens every morning, dons a hazmat suit and drives his Mercedes convertible on an empty highway to get to work in a ‘real’ office, where he sits in a conference room, communicating with colleagues through virtual reality.

Problem is: Adam discovers his heart is failing and – with no transplant possible – he’s scheduled to be replaced by a clone that’s upgraded to the specifications of his estranged wife Reena (Anna Brewster) if his company stays profitable long enough to validate the Premium 3 policy.

But Adam refuses to go ‘quietly into the night,’ so to speak.  Instead, he finds reclusive genetic scientist Donald Stein (Delroy Lindo), “the father of cloning,” and learns that he actually has more options than he realized. 

Like: he might be able to materialize his AI lover, Maria (Gabrielle Cassi), to comfort him during his terminal illness or, perhaps, he could join her in a virtual existence.

Although writer/director Guy Moche’s script is far too predictable, British actor James D’Arcy (Marvel’s “Agent Carter,” “Dunkirk”) does his best, particularly with a unique version of Shakespeare’s most famous “Hamlet” soliloquy.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “LX-2048” is a formulaic 4, appealing primarily to dystopian sci-fi enthusiasts.

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