Background and theoretical basis
The protagonist of the film, Lena, is a professor of biology, her main research direction is the genetic programming and life cycle of cells.
Lena was lecturing, and the class was showing a case video: One cell divides into two cells, and two cells divide into four cells.
"It's a cell, and like all cells, it's split from an existing cell," Lena said. Fundamentally, all cells divide from another cell. The only single-celled creature on earth, maybe even the only one in the universe, about 4 billion years ago, this single-celled creature changed from one to 2, from 2 to 4, and then to 8, 16, Thirty-two, this bifurcated biological characteristic, becomes the biological system of every microbe, grass, marine, terrestrial, and human.
In the end, Lena ended by citing the cells of a 30-year-old woman with cancer, and predicted that the next time she would talk about the autophagy activity of cells.
Expand knowledge: ( Autophagy autophagy: cells have a mechanism for autophagy. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Biomedicine was awarded to Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi for his contribution to the mechanism of biological autophagy. In the current study, it was shown that, Some damaged or discarded mitochondria or Golgi apparatus in the cell are surrounded by goblet-shaped double membrane vesicles, which are then combined with lysosomes and dissolved. This phagocytosis occurs in a cell's internal autophagy mechanism. But The role of this mechanism is still in the exploratory stage.)
Then, Lena in the film chatted with her husband about another biological theory:
Lina said that if human cells keep dividing beyond the Hayflick limit, people will not die. Cells age and stop dividing, it's just our own genetic defects.
Expanding knowledge: (The " Hayflick limit " theory, published in 1965 by American microbiologist Leonard Hayflick, states that cells in Toxin production and death, clinical medicine tends to believe that this is the cause of our body aging and death, that is, "56 times" is the limit for human cells to divide by themselves and maintain the body's metabolic cycle. --- Source Baidu Encyclopedia)
Professor Leonard Hayflick of Stanford University School of Medicine found that normal animal cells in culture cannot replicate themselves more than 56 times. In other words, it seems that there is a clock inside the cell that determines when the cell stops dividing. So that the body into aging. And our heroine's main research is also formal biological genetic programming and life cycle.
That is to say, at the beginning, a single cell divides itself, 1 becomes 2, and 2 becomes 4, thus forming a biological system. At the same time, each cell's self-division has its own limit, which is 56 times. In this process of division, development and decline, it is a normal process. But Lena didn't think so. She thought it was a mistake, a genetic defect. (During the conversation with my husband, the husband believed that what God arranged was right. And Lina believed that God can also make mistakes, that people will age, and cells will stop dividing, which is one of them)
This is a subject of biology to be or not to be.
figure
LOMAX : The X-base officer (played by Benedict Wang in Doctor Fantastic), who is now questioning Lena in the timeline, is linked by his and Lena's questions and answers throughout the film.
Dan : Lena's lover, married man.
Kane : Lena's husband, who disappeared after joining Operation Flash after Lena's derailment. (trauma: wife cheating, unhappy marriage)
Judging from the final footage, after being copied, suicide in the lighthouse with a phosphorescent bomb.
Duplicant Kane : After coming out of the lighthouse, the organs of the body failed, the body bleeds, and after the flash disappeared, the body function recovered. The physical function of the replicant is not covered in depth in the film, it is estimated that this is the rhythm of a sequel.
Casey Shepper : A geologist, testing the surrounding magnetic field all the time. (trauma: daughter died of leukemia)
During Operation Flash, he was attacked by a bear and bit his throat to death.
Josie Radek : Physicist Scientist, joined here 2 months ago. (Trauma: Has been wearing long sleeves to cover scars on hands, has cut wrists)
During the flash action, it is refracted by the plant DNA, and it divides and replicates in the body to become a humanoid plant.
Enya : Medic, came here 10 months ago via volunteer application (trauma: has alcohol problems, is currently sober)
During Operation Flash, he was also attacked to death by a bear.
Ventrice : Psychologist, dying from terminal cancer and hiding the real cause from others. (trauma: cancer)
In Operation Flash, due to the cancer cells in the body, the alien DNA accelerated division in the body, and finally self-decomposed and re-formed a huge single-celled organism, and successfully relied on Lena's blood DNA to divide and successfully reproduce Lena.
Lena : Biologist, served in the military for 7 years and met her husband in the military. He joined the team because he wanted to investigate what happened to his husband, and hid the real reason from others. (trauma: cheating, guilt and self-blame for her husband's death)
Conversation between Lena and Ventrice:
Lena asks Ventrice why her husband is on a suicide mission.
Ventrice said she confused suicide and self-destruction. No one is committing suicide, but almost everyone is self-destructing in some part of their life. Like smoking, drinking, ruining a good job, or a good marriage. Speaking of which, Lina was a little afraid to look at her. Ventrice went on to say that these are not people who decide to do it, but an impulse. Ventrice asked Lena, you should be able to explain this better than me, aren't you a biologist? Do we have our own code of self-destruction?
It can be seen that, whether it is for professional purposes to repair her genes, or because of regret for cheating or guilt for her husband's death, Lina feels that she should repair all of this.
Memories
The film is interspersed with memories to help us step back and understand a lot of truth and humanity.
⭐ Memories 1 : Lena and Kane were lying on the bed in the bedroom, the moon reflected in the frame. Lena wanted Kane to talk about this mission. Kane didn't, he said it was daytime and he was a little dazed to see the moon. Lena said it was like God's fault. Kane said that God never makes mistakes because He is God.
⭐ Memories 2 : Lena had a dream that she and Dan were having sex in the room.
⭐ Memories 3 : Lena was lying on the bed at home, Kane poured a drink and said that he was going on a mission a day early. Lena was surprised. Lena doesn't understand what's going on, and Kane muses that he really, really loves Lena. Just when Lena was about to kiss Kane goodbye, Kane left. Lena also felt that something was wrong with Kane.
⭐ Memories 4 : Lena and Dan are having sex. Afterwards, Lena said it was a mistake. Dan says he and Lena are closer intellectually and physically. And Lena and her husband stay together less often and have no common language. Lena reminds Dan that he also has a wife. And Dan said he loved his wife so much that he felt it had nothing to do with his wife. Lena is disappointed. Lena said she felt her husband already knew about her and that she hated Dan and asked him out.
⭐Memories 5 : Lena was knocked unconscious by Enya, and she remembered the scene before her husband left. (Memories 3)
⭐Memories 6 : Lena and Kane were sitting on the opposite ends of the sofa, each reading a book. Kane turned his head and called Lena: Hey. Lena also turned her head to answer him: Hey.
If you're interested, you can go back and watch at the beginning when Dan stops Lena and invites her to the BBQ party on Saturday. So when Dan called her, she acted embarrassed, and the room she was referring to was the room she had an affair with Dan.
flash
The alien object hit the lighthouse and formed an enclosing sphere of sparkles.
Refraction: All signals, magnetic fields, DNA in it will be refracted. That is to say, the gene of the rose will be refracted to the lily, then according to the biological characteristics mentioned above, the cells begin to divide, 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, and then the lily will bloom roses.
Then, to expand, not only flowers refract flowers, but also people (Josie ends up in a vegetative state), animals (antlers are full of flowers), crocodiles will grow shark teeth, and black bears will have shark teeth. The bitten Shepper, her vocal cord organ cells will also be refracted to the black bear, so the black bear will make her voice (really scary)
All in all, biological diversity is fully reflected here.
Division: The concept of a cell division mentioned earlier, the ultimate idea is that normal cells have a limit of 56 times. And as they moved further into the beacon site, the irregularities of cell division found became more and more serious. Just like cancer cells, it divides and develops freely, dividing until the parent body is consumed and burst.
Replication: Finally, Ventris splits many small cells from the body, and then gradually forms a huge single-cell nucleus. Through a drop of Lena's blood, she replicates her DNA cells, and then begins to divide from one cell into two, two Change to 4, 4 to 8, until it becomes Lena.
At this point, a theory of evolution of alien creatures has been completed.
Final debate:
At the end of the film, there is no dispute that the husband is a replicator. It is widely debated whether Lena is a replicant.
Support the return of replicants
1. Lena and the replicants also have yellow halos in their eyes.
But I don't think that means Lena is a clone. Remember when Lena used her own blood to see cell division changes at night? At that time the cells already had a yellow halo. It can only be said that the human body in the flash will naturally have the DNA of alien creatures.
Support Lena's comeback
1. Lena has no amnesia symptoms, she can recall what happened in the flash
This is quite logical. Indeed, she didn't have the expression of her husband's duplicator two fools at all. However, don't forget, she is the only survivor, she can say anything, she can make it up. So it's not enough of a memory.
doubt:
About Replicants
1. Physical function
In the film, the replicants went out of the lighthouse and started well. After sitting for a while and drinking the water from the quilt, they began to vomit blood, and then their organs failed and the body bleeds profusely. If according to what the base officials said, Lina had been away for 4 months, then it would be hard enough for this replicator to last that long!
At the same time, the body of the clone who left the flash was not suitable. After the flash disappeared, the body immediately refreshed. What is the reason? Is it a foreshadowing of a sequel?
2. Memory
In the film, when the replicants came to look for Lena, they asked three questions about Lena, which can be understood as a symptom of amnesia. So for copying DNA, will memory be acquired along with it?
3. That Conversation
Replica Husband and Lena's Conversation:
Lena: How did you get back? how did you get home?
Replica: i was outside.
Lena: Outside the house? outside the house?
Replica (looking at the kitchen door): No, I'm outside the room. no, i was outside the room. The room with the bed. the room with the bed. The door was open, then, I saw you. the door was open and i saw you. I recognized you. i recognized you.
I understand that the replica is saying that Kane saw the scene where she cheated, he saw it, he recognized her.
4. How did the replica come back to find Lena?
lighthouse ending
1. Why did Kane fail to burn when he first detonated his phosphorescent bomb?
2. Why did the replicant touch Kane's skeleton after being burned? To touch the plants on the lighthouse wall again?
I think it all makes sense if it's Lena's subject who died.
In any case, this is a movie worth reviewing, and everyone is welcome to discuss it together.
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