The Discovery is a 2017 British-American romantic science fiction film, directed by Charlie McDowell from a screenplay by himself and Justin Lader. It stars Rooney Mara, Jason Segel, Robert Redford, Jesse Plemons, Riley Keough, and Ron Canada. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2017. It was released on March 31, 2017, by Netflix. Plot An interviewer questions Thomas Harbor, the man who scientifically proved the existence of an afterlife, a discovery that led to an extremely high suicide rate. The interviewer asks Harbor if he feels responsible, and he says no. Directly after, a film crew member kills himself on air. On the second anniversary of the discovery, Harbor's son Will travels on a ferry where he meets Isla. They have a conversation and Will notes Isla looks very familiar. He says he is upset people keep killing themselves, while Isla thinks it's an easy way out. Will shares a memory he had while being dead for a minute, where he saw a young boy at a beach. Will's brother Toby picks him up and drives him to an isolated mansion where their father is continuing his research. Will notes the large number of helpers, who Toby says used to be suicidal and now have a new purpose. Will meets Lacey and Cooper, his father's aides. Thomas is periodically "put under" and revived while hooked to various machines. When they speak, Will blames Thomas for starting a cult and for the high suicide rate. Will announces his intention to get Thomas to recant his statement about the afterlife and stop the suicides. Later, Will sees Isla on the beach preparing to commit suicide. He barely saves her and brings her to the mansion, where she is taken in. At a later meeting with the occupants, Thomas reveals his new work - a machine that can record what people see in the afterlife. To test the machine, Toby, Will and Isla steal the corpse of Pat Phillips from the morgue. Will reveals to Isla the reason for his resentment towards Thomas: his mother killed herself when Thomas was too obsessed with his work to care about her. Phillips' corpse is hooked to the machine, but nothing happens. After everyone leaves, Will undoes his earlier sabotage on the machine. Immediately the screen shows a video sequence of Pat Phillips driving to a hospital, visiting