Cinema: ‘Swan Song’ The Unintentional Horror Film

Grief is a powerful emotion, one innate to the human experience. Swan Song understands this and places its main character into a difficult decision on whether or not their own death should hurt the ones they love. The film's conclusion is somewhat questionable, but the experience of watching Swan Song is less about the story and more about the acting. Mahershala Ali delivers a truly amazing performance in the film, but he cannot make up for a story that sends an underdeveloped message on the solution to grief.

Set in the ‘near future’, Cameron (Mahershala Ali), is terminally ill and suffers from sudden seizures that could one day kill him. His wife, Poppy (Naomie Harris), has recently lost her twin brother in a motorcycle accident and is currently expecting their second child. Due to the circumstances, Cameron seeks out a new scientific advancement, pioneered by Dr. Jo Scott (Glenn Close), which transfers a copy of someone’s memories to an exact replica of that person’s body. This human replica carries on the rest of the ill person's life after they die, without their family ever knowing. Cameron battles internally with whether this is the correct decision to make, but hesitantly starts the process and meets his exact copy, Jack (Mahershala Ali). What ensues is a rumination on grief and the acceptance of death. The film is written and directed by Benjamin Cleary and is his feature debut. He is best known for the Oscar Award winning short film, Stutterer (2015). 

Swan Song is a physically well-made film. The concept of being set in the ‘near future’ is an idea that is well thought out from the production team. Everything that makes the movie futuristic is subdued, one example being contact lenses with built in cameras that provide many points of view (POV) of what the characters see. The set design is both futuristic and modern, homes still looking like homes of today, but with a twist. Also, the wardrobe design looks like it is straight out of the 2022 style book with muted colors such as browns, grays and some dark reds for added pop. The future aesthetic is very clean and is usually placed in the background to better accentuate the acting performances. The restraint is well noted and looks great in the movie. Though the production design and wardrobe are well done, it is part of a larger problem, the future premise posits an unrealistic and dangerous alternative to raw emotion.

The film seems to be an unintentional horror film about scientific achievement fixing grief. That is the brilliant piece about the film, Swan Song is a dramatic melancholy film that should be interpreted as a horror film. There is a line early on in the film where Dr. Jo Scott says, “This will be as common as a heart transplant in a few years.” This is where the film should begin playing like a dystopian horror film about the loss of human emotion to technology. But, it doesn’t. The story posits that technological replacement is a new part of life and it is the right thing to do. This opens a whole can of worms. If Dr. Scott is correct, in the future (of the film) millions of people will begin replacing themselves with human replicas at the time of their deaths. Everyone would begin to have trust issues and ponder who is real and who is not. People would also become so sheltered from grief and loss that, if for some reason they actually lost someone suddenly, they would not be able to comprehend what had happened. A world with no grief creates emotionally sheltered human beings, thus creating a de-evolution of mankind.

Concept aside, the film does have a highlight that makes it well worth seeing, and that is the performance from Mahershala Ali. Since winning two Oscars for best supporting actor in Moonlight (2016) and Green Book (2018), it is a well-known fact that he is one of the most talented actors working in Hollywood today, Swan Song undoubtedly being a career highlight. Even though the concept itself may not work, it is by and large a character driven script that emotionally relies on the actor’s performance and Ali carries that weight on his shoulders. The brilliance in his performance is very nuanced. In the script, there are certain aspects that help to differentiate, main character, Cameron, from his human replica, Jack. For example, Jack has a freckle on his hand when Cameron does not. However, this visual device is completely unnecessary. Mahershala Ali very clearly plays Jack and Cameron as two slightly different people. There is never a moment where the audience loses track of who is who, as his performance is clear on that. Cameron is melancholy and sad about what is happening to him and he feels anger about Jack potentially taking over his life. Jack feels sorry for Cameron, not in pity, but that this has to happen in the first place. This information is communicated through Ali’s body language. You can see Cameron’s cagy anger and sadness through how uncomfortably he sits and looks at Jack. On the other side, Jack looks calm and peaceful, as if he is trying to calm Cameron with his presence. This is a masterful performance form Ali and it makes Swan Song a must see for that reason. 

Swan Song uses the future set up as a gimmick. It is placed in the background for cool special effects and only complicates the very real human emotion about death and loss. It is a very small story that lacks scope on the human experience. The film ends up giving an easy answer to something that requires more time and thought. Swan Song should be seen for the performance given by Mahershala Ali, but the overall message needs to be viewed less seriously. Unfortunately, the process of grief and loss is a part of the human experience and cannot be solved simply, despite Benjamin Cleary believing he found the solution in this film.