Cloud Atlas (2012) poster
2012 · sci-fi · drama · epic · mind-bending

Cloud Atlas

Directed by Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer2h 52m2012
ElsewhereIMDb7.3386kRT66%Metacritic55TMDB6.98k
  • brisk
  • intense
  • inventive
  • twisty
Movie DNA

Neutral, kinetic, measured sci-fi / drama, surreal in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

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A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Our read · Cloud Atlas (2012) reads as a neutral, kinetic, surreal sci-fi · drama · epic entry — measured in intensity, epic-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook, with a strong directorial signature. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of Cloud Atlas

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want ambitious reincarnation sprawl linking souls across centuries and genres.

ends upliftingit stays with youmeditativegrips by minute 22attention 5/5feels its lengthsubtitles: partial
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violencesuicide theme

Skip it tonightSkip if nearly three hours of nested stories feels like homework tonight.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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