“Infinite,” a movie that was released on June 10th, 2021 and is streaming on Paramount+, is a sci-fi/ action/ fantasy thriller with a story about the concept of reincarnation. Taught and gritty, actors Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor lead a talented cast. They keep the tension flowing from beginning to end. This movie is a roller-coaster; pay close attention to everything, don’t look away if possible, and expect this movie to make to leave a lasting impression.
In this society, there is a group of people known as “Infinites:” dubbed that because they are reincarnated into new lives after they die. Most have lived and died, over thousands of times, and are gifted with the perfect memory of each of their lives. Set during a time when the “Infinites,” have divided into two groups, each vying for power and control over humanity, this movie explores the notion of control over one’s destiny. The “Infinites,” split into two groups, each has different ambitions for the human race. The group known as the “Believers” want to use their knowledge and power, for the benefit and protection of all humanity. The “Nihilists,” however, view their status as a curse, and new, advanced technologies have given them the opportunity to end all life on earth.
The premise of this movie surrounds a man named Evan McCauley (Wahlberg), who at the young age of 14 was diagnosed with schizophrenia because of the dreams and delusions he suffered from. To him, they seemed so real that they felt like memories. Just a teen, he had carved, “Look inside,” with a box-cutter on his chest, thus leading to his mental health diagnosis. He has skill sets that he’s never been trained in, such as sword-making down to every precise detail.
A man with a past of mental illness and violence, McCauley is at rock bottom at the beginning of the movie. He’s job-seeking because his rent is due, he needs his mental health medication, because, without it, he falls apart, and as well, he needs to be able to sustain himself. Due to his history, he isn’t having any luck finding work. He is terrified of running or of his medication. He fills his time doing things such as iron-working and sells what he makes on the black market to get the pills he needs to quell the symptoms of his schizophrenia. The people he deals with view him as a freak because he is so smart. When questioned about where he gets his knowledge, he claims not to know and states, “It makes me nuts.”
When a deal gone bad gets McCauley arrested, sword in hand, the police are baffled by him because the process used to forge the weapon had not been used for centuries; and McCauley had told them he’d mage it himself. Suspicion suddenly arises that McCauley may be an “Infinite. “
Enter “Bathurst 2020,” (Ejiofor, a Nihilist, who uses extreme tactics to get McCauley to remember his origin, such as pulling the trigger of a gun pointed at McCauley’s head each time one of his questions is met with a wrong answer. He places an assortment of weapons and objects in front of McCauley to help him see what his subconscious has locked away: the truth about being an “Infinite.” However, McCauley has no perfect memory of his past lives, which is one trait of one of these elite beings. Hence the torture to free his subconscious, allowing him to remember, finally; revealing that this entire time the hallucinations and the voices in his head stem from the infinite lives he has led before. McCauley then learns of the separate plans of each group.
With The Nihilists trying to end the world, they’ve learned how to trap souls so they can no longer reincarnate. As Evan McCauley remembers who he is and has been throughout the centuries, he uses his recovered memories to wage war against The Nihilist’s plan to destroy humanity. The race is on to stop them, McCauley in the lead. Full of high-speed car chases, guns, a little bit of blood, and gore, “Infinite,” starts fast and keeps the pace throughout the entire movie. Paying attention to everything is key to understanding it. Based on and adapted from the book, “The Reinforcement Papers,” by D. Eric Maikranz, “Infinite” is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who is known for his direction of “Training Day,” and “The Equalizer.” There are numerous differences between the book and the movie.
Online reviews have been quite harsh, which is not what Hollywood executives were anticipating. Mark Wahlberg is a big name and therefore commands movies that are sure to get high ratings. Seeing so many unkind reviews online is disheartening. However, don’t take someone else’s word for it! See it for yourself, and you decide. This sci-fi/ action/ fantasy thriller is well worth the watch.
Written by Mandie Stevens
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
Props, Cosplay, Scale Models, Home Projects, and just about anything else that involves me Making.
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