Like many reviewers said, the fact this is a foreign film that tries to pass for American is hugely distracting. I came for Tom Hughes and was not disappointed in his performance, which I found vulnerable and touching, and I thought he did a great job with his American accent (though I still don't know why the director had him use one).
Something is off with this writing/direction of this movie. Maybe some key scenes got cut or I missed some key nuances, but...there are some serious plot holes that I couldn't get past. The positive: the concept is thought-provoking. Instead of everyone being resurrected in their prime in a recognizable world with no problems (like people hope for), it shows (more realistically) that there are serious and grotesque complications from the process and that death would have been better for many. I enjoyed the main character's (Marc) narrative and flashbacks to his life. Hughes' performance was strong; I felt his vulnerability and his regret.
The negative: the terrible American accents by the supporting cast cheapened the experience. If everybody's European or French Canadian, why not just let them speak English with their regular accents? Uniformity? Because it's not uniform if some people can't pull it off and some can. Next, the full-service nurse was a stupid distraction. I get that she represents the cold, impersonal relationships of the future but at the end he says he was glad it did it because he got to meet her...why? She was a bump on a log. Did I miss a warm, personal connection here? Was that supposed to pass for one or did I miss the point? She was basically a robot. Maybe that was the point. Finally, the whole thing fell apart for me with Marc's original death, which should have been better thought out: (spoiler!) he dies at home after drinking "poison" so his body will be perfectly preserved for the cryo process. The problem? You do know the police aren't just going to let his body be turned over to the cryo company, right? He died at home not in the care of a physician or hospice, so there will be an investigation. They're going to do an autopsy to find out why he died and that is going to wreck the body, so the entire house of cards falls. Yes, I know this is a fictional (even fantasy) movie but if you're presenting it as real life in contemporary times, you need to not make stupid mistakes like this. The reanimation part was more realistic than the death that initiated it.
That said, I'm glad I saw it and continue to be impressed with Tom Hughes. I just wish he'd had a better supporting cast and script. It is a dark and depressing movie, and the image of Marc right before he takes the poison brought me to tears. Then I cried because we're all going to die and this movie reminded me of that. Not for the existentially conflicted.
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