Swan Song is a slow paced sci-fi of sorts, which asks plenty of ethical questions with regards to what could be done with the ability to clone a human. Mahershala Ali is no doubt one of the best working actors out there and elevated this story immensely due to his presence on screen.
Written by Elliot Lines
Cameron (Ali) lives for his family, not wanting to tell them that he is dying an opportunity arises with Dr Scott (Glenn Close) where he can clone himself and switch with his clone so his family won't suffer. There is a sense of ethical responsibilities when it comes to a subject like this, but for Cameron many personal ones, a "strange" is taking over his life.
Ali is the star here, and he is on top form. Swan Song requires the audience to almost be detached and question the choices that are being made here. How far would you go to protect your family? What is ethically correct? Ali provides a performance that makes you care about him and his family, but not so much as to question what he should or should not do. There are some questions regarding the plot points throughout Swan Song. Surely technology such as this wouldn't stay quiet for long, and something like this would cost an absolute fortune. But that aside there are some interesting elements to the story that are worth thinking about if you were put in that situation.
At quite a lengthy runtime, Swan Song does become tiresome at points, but the performance from Mahershala Ali is undoubtedly what carries the film, making this an interesting and thought provoking viewing experience.