Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody is a 2009 science fiction drama film written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael and starring Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh Dan Pham, Rhys Ifans, Natasha Little, Toby Regbo, and Juno Temple. It tells the life story of Nemo Nobody, a 118-year-old man who is the last mortal on Earth after the human race has achieved quasi-immortality. Nemo, memory fading, tells a doctor and journalist about his three main loves and his parents' divorce and the subsequent hardships he endured. The speculative narrative frequently changes course to investigate the alternate life paths that could have resulted from his making different decisions in his life, focusing on when he is nine, fifteen, and thirty-four. The film has nonlinear narrative that incorporates the multiverse hypothesis. The world premiere of Mr. Nobody was at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, where it received the Golden Osella and the Biografilm Lancia Award. Critical response to the film was generally positive, and it was nominated for seven Magritte Awards, winning six, including Best Film and Best Director for Van Dormael. The film was mostly funded through European financiers, and was released in Belgium on 13 January 2010. Despite a strong performance in its domestic market, the film was a box office disappointment, failing to make back its production costs. Since its original release, Mr. Nobody has become a cult film, noted for its philosophy, cinematography, personal characters, and Pierre Van Dormael's soundtrack. Plot In 2092, humanity has conquered mortality through the endless renewal of cells. The world watches in fascination as the 118-year-old Nemo Nobody, the last mortal on Earth, edges towards death. No record can be found of his past and his memories are confused, so Dr. Feldheim, a psychiatrist, uses hypnosis to help Nemo remember his life. Curious to know about the world before quasi-immortality, a journalist also interviews Nemo, whose recollections primarily come from three points in his life: age 9, age 15, and age 34. Nemo makes contradictory statements, describing events from his past as having unfolded in multiple different ways, and explains that, before birth, children remember everything that will happen in their lives. At the moment of conception, the Angels of Oblivion erase the children's memories, but he says the Angels forgot about him, allowing him to "remember" different possible futures for himself.