Quick takes on Netflix's 'The Discovery,' 'Burning Sands'

Netflix continues to plaster its streaming service with original content, including far too many television shows for any normal human to watch.

Its slate of original films and documentaries is a little more manageable. Netflix has always been an excellent outlet for documentaries, but it has also acquired several high-profile narrative features recently, including a few highlights from this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The latest release is “The Discovery,” a contemplative sci-fi drama from writer/director Charlie McDowell that played at Sundance this year. It’s McDowell’s follow-up to the excellent and mind-bending romance, “The One I Love” from 2014, which you can stream on Amazon Prime.

“The Discovery” centers on a scientist (Robert Redford) who has discovered definitive proof of an afterlife, though the film’s central mystery focuses on the 'where' of that supposed afterlife. Jason Segel stars as Will, the scientist’s son returning to his father’s isolated research facility as the world’s suicide rate continues to skyrocket two years after the “discovery.”

On the ferry trip to his father’s facility, Will meets a despondent young woman (Rooney Mara) and the two of them connect as new evidence begins to reveal the nature of what happens to the soul after death.

Much like “The One I Love,” McDowell’s new film twists in and around the science fiction material while focusing heavily on Segel and Mara’s characters, and their relationship eventually flows into the film’s more existential narrative. Unfortunately, Segel and Mara don’t share much spark, and the film never makes their emotional arc relevant enough to the plot-heavy happenings that surround Redford’s scientist and his cult-like followers.

“The Discovery” still reaches a fascinating climax, playing a bit like a spiritual descendant of something like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” If only the characters were as well-defined as the revelations.

“Burning Sands,” another Netflix original plucked from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, follows a group of freshman pledges at an African-American fraternity as they endure underground hazing during the college’s Hell Week. The film, directed and co-written by Gerard McMurray (a producer on “Fruitvale Station”), earned a fair share of media for its depiction of violent hazing methods.

The film focuses primarily on one pledge (Trevor Jackson) and what he endures and witnesses while trying to earn admittance to what is touted to be a place that makes careers and fosters lifelong friendships. Alfre Woodard has a supporting role as a professor, and “Moonlight’s” Trevante Rhodes makes a brief appearance as one of the fraternity’s student leaders.

Well-acted and routinely shocking, “Burning Sands” aims to expose the brutal practices of some African-American fraternities around the country (some of the film’s more uncomfortable moments are inspired by real events). It’s a frightening depiction, especially to those who may only be familiar with the more traditional (and equally dangerous) hazing methods like binge drinking.

Not surprisingly, the depiction has drawn fire from colleges nationwide who consider the film to be an unfair exaggeration of fraternity lifestyles. But McMurray’s film never plays like an indictment of the overall Greek system — in fact “Burning Sands” takes the time to depict why the pledges want to be part of the frat in the first place. Instead, it’s a singular depiction of some seriously monstrous behavior, and a quick Google search reveals many incidents in recent years that mirror the events in the movie.

While not necessarily the most entertaining choice on the streaming service, “Burning Sands” shows how valuable Netflix can be to bringing small, important movies to the masses. Now, if Netflix could just find a better way to market its original film content. Many of its exclusives release on the platform with little to no fanfare. It’s just another title in a giant list, and most reviews for both “Burning Sands” and “The Discovery” were limited to remarks made about them during their Sundance runs.

Even Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize winner this year, the engrossing crime comedy/thriller “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” starring Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood arrived exclusively on Netflix just a few weeks after its celebratory run at the festival. Most winners get a months-long promotional campaign and theatrical release. With Netflix, the movie was featured for a week before it was abandoned to tout a season of “Iron Fist.”

Are the three movies strong candidates for deep and successful theatrical runs? Probably not, and Netflix’s support will lead to bigger and better things for emerging filmmakers. Still, there should be a happy middle ground. It’s hard to keep up with Netflix even when you’re trying.

- • •

Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected]