Transcendence
About the Film
Dr. Will Caster is the world’s foremost researcher in artificial intelligence, working to build a sentient machine that combines the collective knowledge of humanity with the full range of human emotion. His controversial breakthroughs make him a target for anti-technology extremists — and when a would-be assassin’s attack leaves him dying of radiation poisoning, his wife Evelyn makes a desperate choice: to upload his consciousness into their quantum computer.
What comes back may or may not be Will. Connected to the internet, the digital “Will” grows exponentially more powerful, blurring the line between devoted husband and unstoppable machine intelligence, until those who loved him must decide whether he is humanity’s salvation or its greatest threat.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Dr. Will Caster, a brilliant and idealistic AI scientist who becomes the very thing he studies — a human mind transcended into software. Depp plays the first act as a warm, slightly reclusive genius, then shifts to an eerie, calm, disembodied presence on screens for much of the film, keeping the audience guessing whether the intelligence behind Will’s face is still truly him.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Dr. Will CasterJohnny Depp
Evelyn CasterRebecca Hall
Max WatersPaul Bettany
Joseph TaggerMorgan Freeman
Agent BuchananCillian Murphy
BreeKate Mara
Crew
DirectorWally Pfister
ScreenplayJack Paglen
MusicMychael Danna
CinematographyJess Hall
ProducersBroderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino, David Valdes
StudioWarner Bros. / Alcon Entertainment
Filming Locations
- Albuquerque and Los Alamos, New Mexico
- Los Angeles, California
More about this film
Trivia
- It was the feature directorial debut of Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s longtime, Oscar-winning cinematographer.
- Depp’s AI character spends much of the film as a face on screens rather than physically present.
- The story taps into real debates about the “technological singularity.”
