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SWAN SONG With Mahershala Ali As Dying Man Who Clones Himself Streaming on Apple TV+

SWAN SONG With Mahershala Ali As Dying Man Who Clones Himself Streaming on Apple TV+

Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali plays a dying man who clones himself in the futuristic film Swan Song, now streaming on Apple TV+.

Writer/Director: Irish filmmaker Benjamin Cleary.

You are not me!

When a loving husband and father, Milo (Mahershala Ali), is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he’s presented with a controversial alternative solution to replace himself with a carbon copy clone. Milo signs up for a program that creates an exact replica of himself so his family never needs to know he was sick and can go on living with him after he’s gone. At first, Milo is hesitant about the procedure and clashes often with the doctors and his own replica, Jack. The process of extracting Milo’s memories to put into Jack’s brain causes Milo to relive those memories in snippets, revealing both major life events as well as little everyday ones.

An impossible decision awaits.

Screencaps.

Mahershala Ali in North Vancouver.

This started as a premise I had ten years ago I’d stuck in a drawer, and then five years with the script, and when Mahershala’s name came up, I was like, ‘can we even get him to just read it? He did, and we sat down and it became one of those conversations you sometimes have, where each minute you feel more energized and inspired.. After two hours, he said, ‘I’d love to do this.’ We were delayed six months by Covid, and we used tht time to speak about all the elements, and he had such a beautiful way of discovering all these little things within the story. — Writer/Director Benjamin Cleary to Deadline.

Cast: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina and Adam Beach.

Naomie Harris is Poppy, Milo’s wife and true soulmate.

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Glenn Close is his doctor.

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The movie features a character who has to keep a big secret to himself and feels isolated and doesn’t have a lot of outlets for processing his emotions with people. Covid, at least for me, brought parallels to the world and problems this character is trying to manage. And taking this intimate journey with Glenn and Naomie and Awkwafina was an education, a dream come true. — Mahershala Ali to Deadline.

Mahershala Ali won Oscars for his work in Green Book and Moonlight.

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Also known as Cornell Stokes aka Cottonmouth on Netflix’s Marvel series Luke Cage.

Producers: Adam Shulman, Jacob Perlin, Mahershala Ali.

Swan Song filmed in Vancouver last Fall/Winter under the working title Ellington.

Filmed in Vancouver last Fall.

You can see Lonsdale Quay in some of the scenes.

Adam Beach shared Swan Song’s For Your Consideration Oscars campaign.