Mahershala Ali’s 2021 sci-fi film on Apple TV deserves a second look

Few projects have effectively harnessed Mahershala Ali’s many talents (let alone the limbo that Marvel’s Ali-led ‘Blade’ reboot has been stuck in since 2019). But the Apple TV film “Swan Song” by Benjamin Cleary allows the actor to deliver an incredible double performance. For context, Cleary is best known for his Oscar-winning short film “Stutterer,” a stunning exploration of isolation and how our relationship with communication influences our self-esteem. In “Swan Song,” the theme of identity returns, but Cleary dissects it through the prism of a melancholic love story that doubles as a science fiction drama.

When father Cameron (Ali) is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he wants to spare his family any heartache. This arises from an urgent need to protect his wife, Poppy (the wonderful Naomie Harris), from the pain of her inevitable absence. Cameron therefore chose to take an unconventional route to achieve the impossible. Concretely, he decides to clone himself to help fill the void of his loved ones once he is not there. In a conversation with the Los Angeles TimesAli explained the challenges of playing two characters who are similar but very different:

“It was hard, in a way. Well, there was one part that was very easy thanks to Ben [Cleary] […] These characters had, clearly for me, at least in the script and on the page, clearly different intentions. They clearly wanted different things. So it was really like playing two different characters […] I had to play it in my head first, then try to explain how I think I want to play while discovering things in the moment. And then after that, Ben might say, “It works, it doesn’t work,” or whatever. And so that was the challenge.”

After Cameron decides to hide his diagnosis from Poppy, he visits Dr. Scott (Glenn Close), a scientist whose cloning facility seems disturbing at first glance. This is completely natural; after all, cloning often functions as a cautionary trope in science fiction. Indeed, the concept of self-duplication produces feelings of unease: clones can only imitate sentience and can attack the host body at any time. But Cameron isn’t too concerned about these apprehensions, as his thoughts turn to Poppy and his children, who he thinks will get used to the clone soon enough. At one point, Cameron encounters a perfect clone of Kate (Awkwafina), another patient at the facility who appears to have successfully completed the procedure.

After the good doctor creates a medically healthy version of Cameron (named Jack), he spends time with the clone to refine his personality. The plan is as follows: Cameron will stay in the facility and die there, while Jack will have his memory wiped once he leaves, retaining only the memories of “Cameron” that inform his identity. This echoes the situation of Sam Bell in Duncan Jones’ “Moon”, where a clone spends most of its existence thinking that it is the original (or rather the real Sam Bell). But allowing a clone to take control of his life is easier said than done, which makes Cameron realize he’s not as prepared for this as he thought.

“Swan Song” doesn’t concern itself with the ethical implications of cloning. Instead, it’s a story of selfless (or selfish, depending on how you look at it) sacrifice and the details of Cameron’s inner landscape. This experience is as bittersweet as it gets.

“Swan Song” is streaming on Apple TV.