Chimera Strain (2018)

1
Why did you bring me here?
Why can't you just let me go?
I have to save them.
Have you thought... what do
they want?
They want to live.
All they want is your love.
My love couldn't save you.
Maybe you didn't love
me enough.
Maybe they don't want
to be saved.
I won't let them die.
Your kids won't even call
you Dad.
They're my only link to you.
It's too late for that now.
Show them you love them before
you lose them forever.
Show them you love them...
before you lose them forever.
Forever.
He hates us...
because we're sick,
like Ma was.
Show them you love them...
before you lose them forever.
I don't like it.
It's so cold.
This won't last forever.
How do you know?
The Turritopsis Dohrnii.
The immortal jellyfish.
He's already sequenced
its genome... 100,000 RNAs.
Soon, he will identify the
proteins...
that regulate
transdifferentiation.
Transdifferentiation...
spontaneous regeneration.
Unique to the Turritopsis...
biologically immortal.
Think about it, our cells would
spontaneously regenerate.
Just like that, we'll be cured?
We will be
biologically immortal.
Do you want to live forever?
Why do you keep
Ma's door locked?
Doesn't Ma wanna see us?
You need a new liver.
This headache.
Headache, huh? Know how
to make one vanish?
Add "g" to the beginning
of "one" and it's "gone".
Get it? O-N-E?
One. Right? G-O-N-E.
Quint.
How are you, Charlie?
You shouldn't have called here.
Masterson's still looking
for you. Where have you been?
I need to ask you something.
I need stem cells.
Quint. I'm really sorry
about Jessie.
I wanted to be there for you,
for the kids.
They have it, too.
Both of them?
Early onset. Accelerated
variant.
Are they in pain?
I'm gonna save them.
What are you talking about?
I've studied Jessie and I know
how the disease works.
You can't fight multiple system
atrophy.
No, but I can replace their
organs.
What with?
New organs from my pigs,
my chimeric pigs.
You made it work?
But it doesn't address the
underlying cellular issues.
That... that's why I need the
stem cells.
Fetal stem cells from... from
real human embryos.
You know I would do anything
for you, but check the news...
read the papers. There are no
more embryos in research.
They took all our cultures.
No, Masterson would never
allow that.
She'd never give up on Luke.
She hasn't given up.
We're working on him
around the clock.
I just replaced his windpipe.
For which you needed stem cells.
No. We sourced the windpipe
from Griffin.
Griffin.
One pancreas... made to order.
Chimeric pigs... that is
amazing.
I asked for stem cells.
I don't need your money.
Slow down, Quint. I need that.
Keep it. We're done.
What's wrong with you, Quint?
Just leave.
I know what you're doing.
Masterson has what you want.
I thought they surrendered all
their cultures.
Now why would they do that?
Because of the ban, the new law.
Masterson doesn't care
about bans and laws.
She'd do anything to keep
Luke alive.
So can you break in? Can you...
can you get them?
I can get anything for a friend.
Are you a friend, Quint?
What exactly do you need?
I have a better way
to cure a headache.
Put your head through
a window...
and the "pane" will just
disappear.
I keep giving Griffin
everything she asks for...
but still no stem cells.
I know you, you're not waiting
for Griffin's stem cells.
I can see the bruises.
You need to be patient.
Patient? My children are dying!
I'm running out
of time. I need to freeze time.
What are you doing?
He's next. Come on.
No, you can't take Jehoshaphat.
Look, they're all clones.
Just move on to the next one,
the "K" dog.
Kanishka.
Jehoshaphat? Kanishka? Where did
you even get these names from?
Hey! I wanna want to be
with him.
Freezing them,
your cryptobiosis...
is not the same as saving them.
It's so cold.
What's happening to
Jehoshaphat?
His blood is being replaced...
with a customized
Cryo-protectant solution.
But, why?
That's a desiccation.
Jehoshaphat's going to be
preserved...
vitrified like super-cooled
glass.
So, you're saying,
it's like being asleep?
A jolt of
electricity... cryptobiosis...
metabolic rate down...-
Shh!
We're extracting
the water from his cells.
Why are we taking
out his water?
To avoid ice
crystals which could kill him.
Will I see Ma in my dreams?
What if I get trapped
in a nightmare?
Does he even know how
to resurrect us?
What happened to Jehoshaphat?
Will we be dreaming?
What's happening?
Inert gas is being
pumped into his chamber...
for slowing his breathing,
metabolic rate down... now...
But why?
The jolt of electricity.
Cryptobiosis of Jehoshaphat
is complete.
I can't think!
So, you're saying
it's like being asleep?
For years?
Will we be dreaming? Will I see
Ma in my dreams?
What if I get trapped
in a nightmare?
Does he really know how
to resurrect us?
The light gleams an instant...
and then it's night once more.
The light was never meant
to outlast the night.
Do you think he
knows where Kanishka is?
He has no idea.
Hey, Kanishka.
This is your last chance...
be their dad, not their doctor.
Be their dad and lose them?
I'd rather be their doctor
and save them.
Griffin?
You caused this.
It was because of you that she
tried to steal from me.
Dita? Are Dr. Quint's
packages ready?
For you, Quint, I've removed the
pancreas, the kidneys...
the liver, and the thymus.
I'm reversing your transaction.
However, you still owe me.
Come work for me again.
You already have a lab full
of scientists working for you.
They do nothing.
Not one breakthrough since
you disappeared.
Hm?
Don't forget, I own you.
If you want me to help Luke,
I really need stem cells.
There's an incinerator at Bly.
Clean this mess up.
Dita Gruze, she's a violent,
sadistic freak...
and Masterson, you know
she's psychotic.
Why would you work for her...
again?
I'm not working for Masterson.
Yet here you are burning
Griffin's organs...
incinerating her body,
covering up her murder.
I agreed to help Luke in
exchange for stem cells.
Where do you think those stem
cells will come from? Hmm?
Somebody's fetus. Somebody's
baby. Somebody's misfortune.
Could you not imagine the
immortal man...
and smile for what will be
achieved?
I see the immoral man and weep
for what will surely be lost.
And what? What will be lost?
Death, old age, disease?
They will become evolutionary
footnotes.
Miles and Flora would never
ask for an embryo...
to be destroyed, a baby
to be killed.
Miles and Flora will be cured!
But... will they be human?
If, by human, you mean weak...
vulnerable, mortal.
Then, no, they will not be
human.
They will be superhuman,
immortal chimeras.
If God intended us to be
immortal...
we would have more durable
bodies.
If God intended us to be
mortal...
we would have less curious
minds.
I ask for stem cells, and you
bring me papers.
It's an early draft
of Wakahishi's next paper.
Highly confidential. You can
learn.
They are inducing pluripotency
in adult cells.
They don't need embryonic
stem cells.
I am ten years ahead of them.
This is a waste of my time.
If Masterson wants me to help
Luke, you remind her...
remind her what she promised me.
She doesn't need to be reminded.
She never forgets her promises.
Hey!
Quint! I know you're in there.
What do you want, Charlie?
How did you find me?
Why won't you let me help you?
I have all your work.
Notebooks, drives, slides,
everything.
You stole my work?
I saved your work after you
disappeared. They're desperate.
Luke's in a bad way. Masterson
had Gruze search everywhere.
Look, I'm here for you.
Peter, let me help you.
Open the gates. Let me in.
Go back to HSL and bring
my work here.
Well, I don't think I can.
Especially if you treat me like
a delivery service, lock me out.
Get my work...
then I'll buzz you in.
I'll bring wine, dinner?
It'll be just like old times.
Did you bring the stem cells?
What are you doing for my Luke?
Did you see what I achieved
with the Sorex?
Yes... you tripled the life
of those little creatures.
Do you want a pat on the back?
You promised me that you would
unlock the secrets...
of the jellyfish... you promised
me immortality.
Please... just give me
the stem cells.
Oh. You're losing touch
with reality, Quint.
Do you have any comprehension
of the religious...
and political frenzy
around stem cells?
You always manage to get them.
Not this time.
You've been... you've been
pressuring me for results.
Our deal was that...
Oh, stop. You know, maybe it's
time for you to gaze within.
Capitalize on immediately
available resources.
A beautiful baby boy.
Well, not exactly, it's just a
bunch of biochemical mush.
Does he have my mutation?
It doesn't matter.
Why not?
Well, in a few days, I'll remove
the cells, culture them...
subdivide them, freeze them.
Then I can begin testing.
No, you can't do that
to my baby.
Your babies, Miles and Flora,
they need this.
You don't know what they need.
You need to get out of the way.
You need to get out of my head.
It's so dark inside you.
I don't know you anymore.
Nothing has changed.
Everything has changed.
I can't see your soul.
Your ego's in the way.
A beautiful baby boy.
Mommy?
A beautiful baby boy.
Mommy?
A beautiful baby boy.
Mommy?
A beautiful baby boy.
Mommy?
A beautiful baby boy.
Mommy?
Miles, Flora?
What are you going to do?
You know what I need.
What happened to your little
family project?
Did you hit a dead end?
I-I...
Of course, you did.
I suppose it's up to me now.
There is a way.
It's a dangerous, difficult,
despicable way.
I need those stem cells.
Charlie! What do you want?
That is years of work.
Stop. Wait. I'm coming down.
So, where are the kids?
Show them you love them...
before you lose them forever.
Miles!
What about our kids?
Flora! Miles!
What about Kanishka?
Flora!
What about Kanishka?
Your kids won't
even call you Dad.
Let the kids embrace their
fate.
We have to save
Kanishka. He hates us.
Let's just get out of here.
Why don't we run away?
- Charlie!
- What's the matter?
The kids...
- Here, take these.
- What?
Go up to the lookout tower.
Tell me if you see them.
Okay.
Miles!
Your kids won't
even call you Dad.
- Dad!
- Flora!
Dad!
Where are you?
- Dad!
- Flora!
Miles? Flora?
Help!
Your kids won't
even call you Dad.
Miles? Flora?
Charlie, I found them. I think.
And they called me Dad.
What about Kanishka?
We have to save Kanishka.
Go on. Go on.
Do you think he
knows, where Kanishka is?
He has no idea.
All by yourself here?
You must be lonely.
You need to give that
overworked brain a rest.
I don't like it down there.
It was so cold.
We had to get out.
How did you get out?
I did it. It was me.
You found a way out?
You hungry?
Pancakes?
Bas Karo!
Try it now.
Morning.
I have to get back to work
and you should just go.
I should go... yeah.
Yeah, I mean, why would this
be any different?
You know, it's impossible.
I know what you're trying to do
and it can't be done.
Especially not here.
I saw your binder.
All the supplies,
intermediates...
you've been getting
from Masterson.
You're trying to artificially
synthesize complex proteins.
It can't be done.
If this is your plan for the
kids, you're going to die alone.
I'm done wasting my time
with you.
Do you know
what sustained me...
through all those pain-filled
months...
wasting away in that hospital
room?
One memory.
Eloping with you, getting on
that cross-country train.
It was perfection. What about
our kids?
Will Miles ever learn
his purpose?
Will Flora ever experience
her moment?
What is this?
Hello, Quint.
What have you done?
I didn't mean for you to build
an embryo farm here.
What? All of these?
They're all... they're all alive?
What good would they be
otherwise?
How would you extract oocytes?
How would you make embryos?
How would you get stem cells?
Not like this. Not like this.
There has to be another way.
You know what? No more excuses
from you, Dr. Quint.
You need to find a way to save
my Luke.
Tutankhamen just woke...
after nine days in
cryptobiosis.
What does that
mean for my kids?
I can save them.
Your cryptobiosis, it's not the
same as saving them.
I can freeze them and that
gives me time to cure them.
Wake up! Flora needs help!
Flora's time has come.
I can feel it. I can feel it.
I can feel the cold.
Flora's time has come.
Flora needs help.
I'm ready.
I can feel it.
I can feel the cold.
I'm ready, but... please,
can we see Ma first?
The light gleams an instant...
and then it's night once more.
The light was never meant
to outlast the night.
Well, that's gonna change.
It doesn't work. The most you
ever achieved was 49 days.
I resurrected Alexander
after 72 days.
Statistically that's like
10 years.
But you haven't tested it.
Well, that is a chance that
I'm gonna have to take.
I won't let you take chances
with them...
No, you would condemn them
to a certain death.
Dad.
It's okay. We trust you.
Not you, Miles.
When will you do it?
Tonight.
I'm gonna going to pack
my stuff.
I want you to give it all away.
Why?
I won't need any of it.
Not for a long while.
Yes, you will. You will when you
...when you come back.
Okay. But promise me, if you
and Miles aren't around...
I don't want to be resurrected.
What are you talking about?
Without my family, why would
I want to live forever?
You won't be alone. I'm ready
for cryptobiosis, too.
Look, when you come back,
you're gonna have so much fun.
Please listen to me. I have to
go into cryptobiosis, too.
Tonight. With Flora.
No, Miles, not yet. You still
have months. It's not your time.
We're in this together, Dad.
If it's her time, it's my time.
She won't be alone. I'll be
there.
We'll be there, watching
over her.
We're a team, Flora and I,
a package deal.
We're like Holmes and Watson.
More like Vladimir and Estragon.
We'll wait for you.
So, you know what that makes
Dad, right?
Godot.
Hey, guys, look what I found.
Life before Bly. Do you
remember?
Look how pretty Ma is.
For us, she'll always be
like this.
I wanna fly from the sun...
to the very end of the solar
system.
The Oort cloud? Why stop there?
Why not explore other stars,
their planets?
The whole Milky Way?
Other galaxies,
too. The whole universe.
That's a lot
of miles to travel.
It's 46 billion light years.
What's beyond that?
Concealment.
Artifice. Subterfuge.
Cryptobiosis... you... you're
not a suitable candidate.
Every chamber is custom... aah!
You're the genius.
Figure it out!
For Luke and me.
But first, I would like to see
the cryptobiosis chamber.
Hah.
A testament to my vision.
My triumph over death.
But it's uncanny. You built...
you built two.
Luke, our time has arrived.
All of our suffering.
You will be resurrected
and renewed...
and worthy again of holding
my hand.
And I... I will atone
for my deed...
for what you and that
woman made me do.
But first, we must sleep a deep
and peaceful sleep.
And when Quint has decoded
the jellyfish's DNA...
and our cells have been
regenerated, he will bring...
us back and we will be young
and beautiful forever.
Excited? Me, too.
Get those kids relocated.
Wait, I'll do it, I'll do it.
But I have to say goodbye.
Dita?
Give me a moment to be
with them.
Look, it's a delicate process,
resurrecting my children.
They may not make it.
Please...
just one moment with them,
alone.
What are you waiting for?
Traitor!
Dita!
Stop!
Luke! Shoot him.
Charlie...
The secret of our success?
Well, I'd like to start by
dispelling some misconceptions.
First, I would like to address
these rumors...
that have been swirling around,
by categorically stating...
that we have always, at every
stage...
completely eschewed the use
of human embryos.
And, we perform absolutely
no invasive...
or destructive animal testing
of any kind.
Indeed, our success has come
the hard way.
We invested in creating one
of the world's most advanced...
arrays of computer power.
We also invested in assembling
the world's greatest...
array of brain power.
A dream team of more than
a hundred of the best...
scientists from around the
world.
Our army of geniuses finally
identified the transcription...
factors that govern the ability
to regenerate.
Our true eureka moment was the
discovery by researchers...
of trace amounts of a
previously unknown protein.
Ambrosthrombonin.
Ambrosthrombonin is now known
to regulate regeneration...
in the jellyfish and in other
creatures.
The good news, our genes
are already coded...
to produce Ambrosthrombonin.
It occurs naturally in humans.
Inherited from our common
single-celled ancestor...
that first twitched to life
1.2 billion years ago.
The bad news, our bodies only
produce this protein...
in very tiny, trace amounts.
Unfortunately, it is has still
proved impossible for us...
to synthesize Ambrosthrombonin.
So, we had to take a different
approach.
We needed to figure out how to
induce human bone marrow...
cells to produce 10 million
times more Ambrosthrombonin.
In early tests, we successfully
combined different...
high-Ambrosthrombonin-producing
genes from the jellyfish...
with the human hemoglobin gene.
We developed techniques to
remove the donor DNA...
from the egg and replace it...
with the super
Ambrosthrombonin-producing DNA.
To stimulate the eggs, so that
they will grow into embryos...
the perfect combination turned
out to be not just donor sperm...
the usual chemicals, and an
electric pulse...
but also a secret, unknown
ingredient.
Regretfully, the identity
of that...
secret ingredient was lost.
That was over six years ago
and to this day...
we've been unable to replicate
those results.
This is our tragedy.
We did it, one time in the
founding days...
of Chimera Pharmaceuticals.
Those eggs developed onto
transgenic fetuses, chimeras...
and they provided us with
stem cells coded...
to make Ambrosthrombonin.
These stem cells could induce
the recipient to produce...
10 million times more
Ambrosthrombonin...
than natural levels.
The subject will be able to
reverse all kinds of damage...
and any negative effects
of aging.
Theoretically, this chimera
could transdifferentiate...
regenerate, so it could regrow
an amputated limb.
I am a chimera.
It won't be long now.
We'll be together soon.
What happened?
Don't ask what happened.
Ask what happens next.
What happens next?
You know how to cure them?
You're going to bring them
back.
You're going to bring them
back.
And what about my baby?
You don't need my baby.
That's your embryo... your baby.
Our baby.
This is Jessie's baby.
That's just an embryo,
some cells.
I added the jellyfish gene,
the Ambrosthrombonin DNA.
So, it's going to be...
It's going to be the world's
first chimeric baby.
You want a baby?
Jessie wants this baby.
Jessie's dead.
Jessie will carry this baby.
Deliver this boy.
Charlie...
911, what's your emergency?
Uh... the kids...
Our kids... uh... the kids...
I have to...
Yes. I am finally ready to talk
about Dr. Peter Quint.
He was my friend, my idol...
my teacher, my mentor.
And, yes, I will admit...
at that time, I was in love
with him.
That's why it's so painful,
everything that happened.
As I have testified, I believe
he just snapped.
The evidence indicates the
extent of his depravity.
Even towards his own
comatose wife.
He extracted and then attempted
to fertilize her oocytes.
His notes tell us he produced
one embryo.
An unnatural, mutant being,
genetically modified...
an abomination.
That sample, that chimeric
embryo...
was destroyed...
thankfully.
Science.
There was no science.
Instead, what we found at Bly
was terrifying.
A grotesque embryo farm...
that he diligently maintained
with the express intent...
of cultivating stem cells.
Five women. Our colleagues,
Masterson, Gruze, Griffin.
He cut short these beautiful
lives.
Fortuitously for me, the police
arrived just in time.
Were it not for these
brave men and women...
I would have been another
hapless subject...
of his prurient curiosity.
Another victim of his deranged
proclivities.
Hidden in a deep basement, the
police discovered his children.
Frozen to 200 degrees
below zero.
The paramedics could not
revive them...
and these sweet, innocent souls
were forever lost.
What have you done? Miles!
Flora! Those are my children!
I need to see them!
You've killed my children!
You've killed my children!
Please! Please, stop!
What's next?
Next, we need to unlock the
secret of the jellyfish.
We need to change everything.
Can you imagine a world
without aging, disease...
injury, or death?
Lives spanning 200 years,
500, a thousand?
Imagine a world where it
would be headline news...
someone died today.
Perfect health, longevity,
peak performance...
supreme fulfillment,
extraordinary attainment...
for everyone.
To live as gods,
to comprehend all mysteries.
Mommy.
To colonize the universe.
Humanity's leap forward.
Mommy.
Mankind's destiny.
The next step in our evolution.
That is my journey,
my purpose, my quest.
Mommy?