By: Andrew Wing

Swan Song is a 2021 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Benjamin Cleary (best known for his short-film Stutterer) and produced by Mahershala Ali (first time producing), Rebecca Bourke and Jonathan King.

The film is set in the near future and in it, Ali (Moonlight, Green Book) portrays a husband and father who is diagnosed with a terminal illness but is given a new solution: to replace himself with a clone. The film also stars Naomie Harris (Moonlight, 28 Days Later, James Bond films), Awkwafina (The Farewell, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, 101 Dalmatians, Hillbilly Elegy) and Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers, Windtalkers) in supporting roles.

It was released by and on Apple TV+ on December 17, 2021.

THE GOOD

There is no denying that this film has gone under the radar. For one, it is an Apple TV+ film, and two, it also didn’t premiere at any film festivals. I first heard of it just a month or two ago, but once I saw that Mahershala Ali was starring in it, that was all I needed to be hooked. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past five years, you should know that Ali has emerged as one of the best actors working today after his Academy Award-winning roles in Moonlight and Green Book, but also impressive performances in series such as True Detective and Ramy. Despite his immeasurable success though, was his performance in this enough to carry the film? Well you will just have to keep reading to find out!

The answer to the previous question: Yes. It was. Ali was just awesome in Swan Song. He is definitely worth the price of admission as he portrays the character Cameron Turner, a husband and father who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. But what is better than having Mahershala Ali in a film? Having TWO of him! Yes, that is right, Ali also portrays Cameron Turner’s clone who goes by the name Jack in this film. It was just such a treat getting to watch Ali portray two very different characters despite having the same genetic makeup and memories. His performance was truly gut-wrenching as we see his main character struggle with a very difficult decision that makes not only himself ask tough moral and ethical questions, but also the audience. In a normal year of film, I would say he has a pretty good chance at garnering a Best Actor nomination, and although his performance is great, it really is starting to get crowded in that category. So with that said, I unfortunately think he won’t make the final cut, but he made it known with this performance that his time is coming.

I also want to shout out the writer and director of Swan Song, Benjamin Cleary, who did a fantastic job in what I believe was his feature-film debut (I believe he has only directed shorts, but I could be wrong though). I was really impressed with his script here, and I just really am a sucker for stories that make you ask yourself questions about what you would do if you were in these situations, and this film does exactly that. His direction was also very nice and you could tell that he paid attention to every little detail, and I would go out on a limb and guess he executed his vision with this. Overall just really impressed with Cleary, and I look forward to seeing what he does next!

A few more things worth highlighting when it comes to Swan Song, the first being the overall look of the film. It is set in the near future, and I just absolutely loved all the technological advancements they showed off in this from the A.I. 's delivering food/drink to the holographic facetime/video calls. The cinematography was also really good and there were some beautiful shots of nature too. Simply put, the movie looks pretty damn good. Lastly, I really enjoyed the performances of both Naomie Harris and Awkwafina. Naomie Harris is an extremely talented actress, and it was good to see her get back to form after what I thought was one of her worst performances in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (see Ted’s full review here). As for Awkwafina, I just love her. She doesn’t get a ton of screen time in this one, but just makes her presence felt in a positive way, just like she did in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (see our full review here).

THE BAD

I won’t spend too much time nitpicking this one as I really enjoyed it from start to finish and was just impressed with how they brought this story to life. What I will say though is that I really felt like this film could have been great. It has one of the most interesting plots a movie can have, and they could have gone anywhere with it, but they just took the easy way out in my opinion. That said, I liked the ending and I was fine with how it wrapped up, but if you look at some of the best science fiction films of the past ten years, most of them have these wild crazy endings that you won’t see coming. With Swan Song though, you will see it coming from a mile away. Maybe that’s because it is also a drama film, but I just felt the film could’ve gone deeper with its very intriguing premise.

THE VERDICT

Despite me just wanting more from this film as I felt it could’ve gone deeper with its premise of what is a very interesting concept, Swan Song is still a thought provoking sci-fi drama film from director Benjamin Cleary that will garner both sympathy and tears from audiences. It will make you ask tough moral and ethical questions about what you would do if you were in this situation, and it also features an astoundingly gut-wrenching performance from Mahershala Ali in a dual role where he plays both human and clone in his first leading role.