<em>The Discovery</em> Has a Great Premise, but Little Else
The new Netflix film posits a world in which the existence of an afterlife has been conclusively proven—but it doesn’t know where to take that story.
The writer and director Charlie McDowell, whose new film is released on Netflix Friday, specializes in an emerging genre. Call it sci-fi mumblecore or lo-fi sci-fi: smaller indie films that explore the kind of mind-bending, technology-focused, and often deeply philosophical themes usually reserved for movies that operate on a grander scale. McDowell belongs in the conversation with directors like Shane Carruth (, ) and Mike Cahill (), who have worked miracles with
