With each passing film of his, I’m further convinced that Don Hertzfeldt holds the key to achieving world peace & prosperity.

While his sci-fi short World of Tomorrow studied the flawed nature of the mere implementation of artifically prolonged lifespans, its sequel examines the broken inner substance and processes of the clones who so listlessly prolong them. This film’s scope is comparatively broader than the first, infusing its backdrops with a more intricate, semi-naturalistic flourish and profoundly expanding its introspections of the human condition through the eyes of its ever so entranced child subject, whose abstracted reactions to the unfolding existential dread around her prove an ideally snug comic foil for her new escort’s deadpan nuance. She, Emily’s sixth generation clone, is plagued with cautionary flaws that prompt the painfully destructive consequences merely hinted at before: showing a perverse attachment to the inanimate and an inability to both recall memories experienced by generations previous as well as wholly execute their dreams and ambitions...nor can she achieve her own.

In essence, with each new clone, its character and experiences are further diluted by the confines of repetition. Only within the sole, truly living subject can a human exercise its unlimited reaches of imagination, adventure, and empathy; Hertzfeldt further validates this truth with a somber irony, presenting the child’s human experience as something toured and sightseen by the living copies who’re in need to reminisce.

Hertzfeldt also reveals a second thematic thread through Emily’s advertent actions and the inadvertent realizations it triggers in her clone: the importance of releasing the past and celebrating the opportunities of the present...and furthermore, cherishing and respecting all of those blessed to share that present with us, whether a lifelong companion, a measly spider on the wall, or a deranged radical, for just like you, they’re embracing their only chance at life. Our experiences may be separate, but the song is shared together.

And, oh, what a happy song it is!