I Am Mortal is a decent if derivative and dopey sci-fi YA movie. It’s set in a future where mankind has been given the gift of immortality… only one guy thinks maybe life is only worth living if its limited. So he begins to question and finds others who question as well. But the powers that be don’t like that.

This is kind of baby’s first philosophical treatise. And I mock it but there’s still something to be said for a movie that’s about philosophy and not ray guns. This isn’t a movie about gun battles or major trauma… it’s a movie about ideas. Simplistic, YA-infused low budget ideas, but at least ideas?

There’s one real problem with it though. It seems to be confused about what the problem is. They have immortality but they aren’t living… because, on top of the immortality, they take pills that keep them sedate. They aren’t living LIFE. So… maybe immortality: good and mind-numbing happy pills: bad?

So, yeah, this is very familiar ground for sci-fi dystopias. You could say it’s like Equilibrium without the gun-fu. A Brave New World where the drugs keep us zoned out. It’s the year 3535 and everything you think, do, or say is in the pill you took today.

The film is very talky.. and full of “as you all know” exposition. It takes long interludes with Sean Gunn (as the creator of the technology) to chatter about how all this works. And then it weirdly skips major plot points, providing verbal exposition to explain what they apparently didn’t shoot.

It’s a pretty uneven film but it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen. It’s highly derivative but not a terrible version of what it’s about. I think most grown adults will have very little use for it but maybe teens might get something out of it. Assuming they don’t watch or read or listen to other, better media. What a recommendation!

Score: 70