Franklyn 2008

Jonathan Preest, Ryan Phillippe, is the masked vigilante of Meanwhile City, a surreal, comic-book world where every resident is legally compelled to follow a religion. Preest, the town’s only atheist, learns that his nemesis, The Individual, has kidnapped a girl. As he hunts for her, he is captured by the local authorities. They promise eventual release, but plan to implant a homing device on him. Before the procedure can begin, Preest fights his way out, his resolve unwavering even in the face of a system that seems bent on controlling every breath he takes.

In a reality that resembles our own London, Emilia, Eva Green, is a troubled art student. During one of her provocative projects, she records herself calling an ambulance and tragically takes a lethal amount of pills. The ambulance arrives just in time, and she wakes up in a hospital, her mind and life already tangled in a web of fragile truths and fragile lies.

In the same hospital building, Peter—a religious man—searches for his son David, who has become mentally unstable after returning from the war. David’s troubling state has drawn scrutiny before, and Peter’s persistent worry hints at a deeper fracture within their family.

After learning that the kidnapped girl has been killed by The Individual, Preest visits Wormsnake, his customary informant. He beats Wormsnake and, posing as someone seeking a peaceful talk, leaves a note with an address and instructs Wormsnake to pass it along to The Individual. Then Preest hides in a nearby building, sniper rifle ready, waiting for his quarry to reveal himself.

Emilia is also developing another facet of her art: following and recording strangers, sometimes in disguise with a red wig. One passerby is Milo, whose fiancée left him days before their wedding. Heartbroken, Milo begins to haunt the memory of a childhood friend named Sally, convinced she’s everywhere. He finally speaks to Sally, who bears a striking resemblance to Emilia, and sets up a restaurant date. Later, Milo learns from his mother that Sally is a figment of his own imagination—an invention he conjured after the death of his father. Nevertheless, he heads to the restaurant on the night he believes he’ll meet Sally.

At a shelter for the homeless, Peter encounters Bill, an old friend of David from Basra. David—who has recently attacked Bill and left him with a note bearing an address—looms large in Bill’s mind as a potential threat. Bill, who bears a striking resemblance to Wormsnake, fears the worst: that David will come after him.

After a tense exchange with the hospital’s janitor and another failed suicide attempt, Emilia confronts her mother. The truth surfaces in a quiet, painful moment: as a child, Emilia was abused by her father, and her mother believed her, which is why they left him. The two women reconcile, a fragile bridge built on shared sorrow and renewed trust.

Peter heads to the address Bill’s note pointed to, only to discover it is the building where Emilia lives. He then moves to the restaurant opposite, the same place Milo had planned to meet Sally. David—who bears a striking resemblance to Preest—breaks into Emilia’s apartment, wounds her, and uses the apartment’s window to aim at his father in the restaurant below. The Meanwhile City reality unravels as a fantasy created by David, born from the war’s trauma and the death of his sister. Peter’s fatalistic view of the world—once offered as reassurance—only fuels David’s resentment.

Driven by a sense of heroic self-importance, David fires at the moment Milo rises to kiss Sally. The shot hits Milo, sending panic through the room. Emilia, in a desperate bid to escape, triggers another suicide attempt by turning on the gas. Realizing what he has done, David commits suicide by igniting the gas, triggering a blast that destroys Emilia’s apartment. She survives the explosion and emerges into the street just as Milo, shaken and searching, spots her. Paramedics arrive, and in a jolting convergence of fates, Milo and Emilia finally meet.