LX 2048

Writer-director Guy Moshe cooks up some genuinely interesting ideas in the futuristic pseudo-noir, LX 2048. While they don’t all coalesce, the magnificently committed performance by lead James D’Arcy alone makes the film worth watching.

In the future, the sun is now so toxic that individuals must wear protective HAZMAT suits if braving the daylight, a virtual reality world known as “The Realm” has consumed society and rendered everyone a character in any world, but the real one, and neon light is evidently so pervasive that the entire cityscape looks like something out of Miami Vice.

Adam Bird (D’Arcy), your average upper-middle-class, white-collar human (this will make sense later), is facing a crisis. In the film’s opening moments, Adam is informed that he is dying of progressive heart failure. This, in effect, shouldn’t be that big of a deal since years prior, Adam and his now-estranged wife, Reena (Anna Brewster), purchased Premium Three life insurance. This policy will essentially replace the recently deceased with a new and improved cloned version of the person within a few hours of that person’s death. The idea being that those left behind can pick up right where they left off with their now-reincarnated loved one.

“This policy will essentially replace the recently deceased with a new and improved cloned version…”

Adam senses that virtual reality is on its way out, and a new platform called Chip is soon to be the next big thing, jeopardizing his job at VR giant, Tech Brokers. Adam worries (because he’s human) that given his imminent death, even with an incoming clone, his children will be left with nothing.

Adam longs for a time when all people were flesh and blood and could experience the world as they were biologically intended to: bathed in sunlight and fresh air. He is disheartened that his kids are products of their virtual generation and that Reena has drunk the Kool-Aid as well. Adam’s only quasi-authentic relationship is with his virtual girlfriend, Maria (Gabrielle Cassi). Seeking out the help of Donald Stein (Delroy Lindo), the inventor of Chip, Adam hopes he can find a way to happiness for himself and his family before it’s too late.