Cloud Atlas (2012) on Netflix
R20122h 52mActionDramaMysterySci-Fi
Six interwoven stories across centuries, from Adam Ewing's Pacific voyage to the tribesman Zachry in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, with a composer, a journalist, a publisher, and a fabricant.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb7.3/10388,483 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes66%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1849, the American lawyer Adam Ewing waits at the Chatham Islands for his ship to be repaired and sees Autua, an enslaved Moriori man, whipped. In 1936, the composer Robert Frobisher takes work as an assistant to the aging Vyvyan Ayrs. In 1973 San Francisco, the journalist Luisa Rey meets the physicist Rufus Sixsmith, who speaks of a conspiracy at a nuclear reactor. The publisher Timothy Cavendish, threatened by the brothers of the gangster Dermot Hoggins over Hoggins's profits, follows his brother Denholme's advice and hides at Aurora House. In 2144 Neo Seoul, the fabricant Sonmi-451 serves fast food until another fabricant, Yoona-939, shows her a film clip. In post-apocalyptic Hawaii, the tribesman Zachry meets Meronym, a Prescient who wants to cross mountains his people dread to reach a place inland.
Cast
Show all 19 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cloud Atlas (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film was meant to be shot in chronological order, but Halle Berry broke her foot two days before she was supposed to start filming; instead of replacing her, the Wachowskis and Tykwer heavily changed the schedule, traveling back and forth to Majorca and Germany as her foot improved.
- Hugh Grant joined the cast days before the start of filming and was originally supposed to have only five roles, but he asked the Wachowskis for a sixth one and was also cast as Denholme Cavendish in the 2012 storyline.
- According to Halle Berry, the character of Ovid she plays in the 2144 storyline was originally meant to be a female character played by Tom Hanks, until the directors felt that Ovid was a logical part of the journey of the soul played by Berry.
- The film was released in cinemas in China on 31 January 2013 with 39 minutes of cuts, including the removal of nudity, a sexual scene and numerous conversations.
- The Media Action Network for Asian Americans criticized the film's use of white actors in yellowface to portray East Asian characters in the neo-Seoul sequences; its president, Guy Aoki, said the film had a double standard, as it used black actors to portray black characters.
- Filmmaking duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods later chose Hugh Grant for the lead role of Mr. Reed in Heretic because of his performance in six roles in Cloud Atlas.
