Billionaire real estate developer Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) is desperate not to die of the cancer eating through his body. He receives an anonymous card for a service only available to the ultra-rich: the chance to put his consciousness into a new, younger, lab-grown body. The side effects are minor and easily controlled with a once-a-day pill, doled out weekly by the project supervisor (Matthew Goode). But when Damian accidentally skips a dose, he is overwhelmed with memories of a place and family that have never been his. Digging, he discovers that "lab-grown" is optimistic and to keep up with demand, the bodies are sourced from the poor and the desperate. Damian's contribution was an Army soldier (Ryan Reynolds) who sold his body in exchange for medical treatment for his daughter (Jaynee-Lynn Kinchen). He must keep "Mike's" family safe while wearing him like a suit.
Ah, fiction, bringing us wonderful fables like Billionaire-Grows-a-Conscience-and-Stops-Exploiting-the-Poor. That's how you know this service isn't real. They wouldn't hide it. That company would have a worldwide roll-out and people lined up ten deep outside. This kind of dystopian story isn't new, either. The only notable thing about this is that it's early enough in Reynolds' career that he's still actually acting.
It's not terrible and if you're in the mood for a movie with beautiful surroundings that you can put on mute and just have running in the background like a screensaver, it's okay. Self/Less is currently streaming on Paramount+.
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