Self/less
Entry updated 28 September 2026. Tagged: Film.
US film (2015). Focus Features. Directed by Tarsem Singh. Written by Alex Pastor and Dan Pastor. Cast includes Michelle Dockery, Victor Garber, Matthew Goode, Ben Kingsley, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Derek Luke, Natalie Martinez, Thomas Francis Murphy and Ryan Reynolds. 117 minutes. Colour.
Multimillionaire Damian Hale (Kingsley) is dying, but he learns of an exciting opportunity offered by a man named Albright (Goode); for a large fee, Albright tells him, he can transfer his consciousness into a younger Cloned body so he can continue to live (see Identity Transfer). Accepting the offer, he soon awakens in a new body (Reynolds), is given a new name, Edward Kidner, and begins his new life; but Albright instructs him to take a certain medication to suppress the "hallucinations" he is likely to experience. Though he initially enjoys bar-hopping and womanizing, he is troubled by visions of a farmhouse and a woman and child; Albright tells him they are not important but indicates that he is aware of their contents. Convinced that the visions are real, Damian/Kidner tracks down the farmhouse and meets the woman, Madeleine (Martinez), who evidently believes that he is her purportedly dead husband Mark Bitwell. He pretends to be Mark while realizing that he was not given a cloned body, but the body of an actual person who gave up his life. In this case, Mark sacrificed himself to get money to pay for the treatment needed to save his daughter Anna's (Kinchen) life. The inevitable action sequences now begin: determined to preserve his secret, Albright sends men to kill Damian/Kidner and Madeleine, but they kill them instead and run away with Anna. Damian/Kidner discovers that the process was invented by a man named Jensen (Murphy) and figures out that Albright must be Jensen in a new body. Damian/Kidner is attacked again, but Madeleine saves him, and when she notices that he seems to lack Mark's memories, he finally explains the situation. After further assaults by Jensen/Albright, Damian/Kidner arranges for Madeleine and Anna to travel to the Caribbean, kills Jensen/Albright, and stops taking the medicine; when he goes to see Madeleine and Anna, Mark's personality gradually re-emerges and Damian dies.
As everyone notes, this film obviously recalls Seconds (1966), and it is similarly a cautionary tale about the unhappy consequences of seeking Immortality. Another clear message is the good qualities of the impoverished and the immorality of the wealthy: Mark is utterly devoted to his daughter, but Damian neglected his daughter Claire (Dockery) and became estranged from her. There are two negative images of city life – the hustling businessmen of New York City and the fun-loving party-goers of New Orleans – while true virtue is found in rural Missouri and the unspoiled Caribbean. It is incongruous that a man who devoted his entire life to working hard to succeed would want to spend his second life indulging in idle pleasures; the contrasting idea figures in the Twilight Zone (1959-1964) episode "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" (1963) in which another successful executive wants to live a second life so he can again make his way to the top. One underdeveloped theme is the fact that Jensen's method, if employed in an ethical manner, might prove to be a tremendous boon to humanity; but this has to go unstated in the film, as it would interfere with the typical Hollywood impulse to avoid ambiguity and portray Jensen/Albright only as a despicable Villain. [GW]
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