Psyche Evaluation of the Clones

Tom is an angry man. Pain and fear, as is so often the case, are at the root of this anger, as Tom suffers an attack from a clone – his clone – as he learns to face his reflection.

Anthony Mackie, our new Captain America, is having something of a moment and it’s well deserved.  His heart-breaking performance is subtle as it’s slowly revealed why Tom has spent $30,000 on a ‘reunion’ with his clone, a limited window of time for them to talk about life, love and the universe. His suffering is palpable and despite his angry, ‘level 7 asshole’ demeanour, your heart goes out to him. Well I’d be angry if 15 years of my work was reduced to ‘a simple algorithm’ in one morning.

There are undertones of the opening series 2 Black Mirror episode ‘Be Right Back’, in which a grieving widow buys a clone of her late husband but finds that his personality can’t be reconstructed simply from e-mails, text and social media posts. ‘Real Tom’ and ‘Clone Tom’ have anticipated this problem, as the clone explains that he needs to know what the story of his ‘meet cute’ with his wife sounds like in his own voice.

At this point we start to suspect what Real Tom’s end game is, and that’s when the heartstrings are plucked as he tries to impart how it really feels to be a husband and a father to two ordinary children. Ordinary yet remarkable, to him, as an obviously proud father.

Real Tom can teach Clone Tom his daughter’s secret handshake but is that enough?  He wants his clone to be a better man than the real him – a better husband, father and son, but doesn’t want the real man that he was to be forgotten when his life is over. Clone Tom shows remarkable emotional intelligence, for what is essentially a very well put together AI machine, in terms of how he intends to support Real Tom with that and if you’ve not been reaching for the tissues before that moment, you will be. Real Tom isn’t an ‘asshole’. He’s just a human being, and that’s OK.

Verdict: A poignant second instalment of Solos that will pluck at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever suffered loss. 8/10

Claire Smith