Ian Gray (Michael Pitt) is a PHD student in New York. At a Halloween party, he meets a mysterious girl. He takes a picture of her eye as he often does. She leaves before getting her name. With only a picture of her eye, he finds her from a billboard leading him to spiritual model Sofi (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey). He's researching a way to make color-blind mice see color. Karen (Brit Marling) is his new first-year student assistant. They start a project to create eyes on an animal without eyes showing the evolution of the eye and to debunk Intelligent Design.
The premise is intriguing. The story starts well. It is ambitious in its subject matter. The film is solid up to the end of Sofi. Then it tries to do too much. Writer/director Mike Cahill is unable to corral the various ideas into a compelling story. It's obvious what it's trying to do but it struggles to make it interesting. I still give it full marks for its ambitions despite its failure to achieve its full intention.
The premise is intriguing. The story starts well. It is ambitious in its subject matter. The film is solid up to the end of Sofi. Then it tries to do too much. Writer/director Mike Cahill is unable to corral the various ideas into a compelling story. It's obvious what it's trying to do but it struggles to make it interesting. I still give it full marks for its ambitions despite its failure to achieve its full intention.