Sebastien Blanc does a marvelous job in putting together a truly excellent sci-fi horror film in his latest edition, “Cerebrum” (2022). The chemistry between the two lead characters, Steve Oram as Richard and Tobi King Bakare as William, helps Sebastien Blanc with the storytelling process. The narrative surpasses our expectations, which revolves around a rational young man confronting a delusional husband and father. This movie is indeed a must-watch, as very few are as good as this one in this particular genre. Spoilers Ahead
Cerebrum (2022) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with William standing in the middle of the road at night. He is looking for something and finds his mother is coming out from a dense forest. She is behaving peculiarly, and as soon as we see William sitting on a chair, he is tied with a rope, and his mother, Amelia, is holding the rope. A car comes at a high speed, and William is shouting at his mother to let him go. This happens to be a dream. In the very next scene, William opens his eyes, lying in a hospital bed. His father, Richard, calls for the nurse as he tries to talk to William.
Dr. Shelley tells Richard it is a miracle that William has returned from a coma so early. However, he cannot speak at this moment, but with time and proper rest, he can talk normally. Richard brings William home and shows him around the house and the equipment he has bought for William so that he can exercise a little. William is sitting in a wheelchair, and he tries his best to make Richard understand that he wants to see his mother. Richard tells him that she is resting upstairs and it will be best not to disturb her at this point.
Is Martha Alive?
Since William has had a bizarre dream about his mother, he is eager to see her face-to-face. He asks Richard whether his mother is angry with him or not. Richard tells him not to worry much about that. He asks her to give her some time, and she will come to him gradually. Later that night, when Richard tells William that he is going upstairs, we see that he lies and enters a room just beside William’s on the ground floor.
We also see a dark figure moving around the house. William fails to sleep, and he goes outside the house to smoke weed. He hears the sound of digging in the backyard. He follows the sound and finds out that Richard is digging something. The following day, William sees a woman enter the house and enter Richard’s home office. William fails to understand what is going on in the house as he approaches Amelia’s room. He knocks at the door, but no one replies from the other side.
William is now very persistent about seeing his mother, Amelia, as he locks himself in the bathroom. Richard requests him to come out and promises him that he will try to bring Amelia to dinner. However, Amelia doesn’t come to have dinner with them, but William, on the other hand, suddenly gets a sort of stroke. Richard gives him an injection, and later that night, William sees Amelia. However, Amelia is fully naked, and there are some sort of weird marks on her whole body.
William hides this from Richard as he knows something is terribly wrong inside the house. On another one of these nights, William tries to cook some food and wants to give it to Amelia in her room. However, Richard interferes, and he hurriedly prepares the plate and goes to Amelia’s room. William is now sure that Richard is hiding something from him. Later that night, Richard puts some sleeping pills in William’s food, and the following morning, William goes into Amelia’s room.
What Does William Find out about his Mother?
When William goes into Amelia’s room, he finds out that there is no one there, and the food is left untouched from last night. He fights with Richard and breaks a frame with Amelia’s picture in it, along with a couple of flower vases. Richard angrily holds William and tells him that he is trying to undo whatever William has done. William is confused now and wants to get to the bottom of it. That night, we see Richard talking to the figure that William saw earlier. Richard talks to this abnormal Amelia figure and tells her that now is not the right time to let William know about everything.
He fears that William may resist perceiving the reason behind whatever Richard is doing, and he may attract a crowd, which will not be a good sign for his work. But, since Amelia, or whatever she is as of now, puts on a sad face, Richard agrees to share the truth with William. Richard wakes William up and asks him to follow him to a closet. When William reaches the closet, he finds out that Richard is opening a secret door. He follows him to a lab of some sort, and there, he finds out that Amelia is dead. A terrible fear overtakes William as he trembles, cries, and screams in pain.
What exactly happens to Amelia?
Before all of this, there comes a day when William and Richard are having their breakfast. Richard has called his wife, Amelia, who is on a business trip and is about to catch her flight back home. William is fed up with Richard as his father expects him to be a doctor. Anyway, William smokes weed and goes to pick up his mother. Later that night, when they are returning home, William feels sleepy while driving. Since he has already smoked weed, he fails to resist falling asleep. He takes a nap while driving and suddenly hits another car. Amelia and William are both in serious condition when they are sent to the hospital.
William seems like he can survive the threat. However, Amelia is on the verge of dying. Richard puts William in intensive care and brings Amelia’s body home. He finds a way to transfer her consciousness into a new body. He has been experimenting with this for a long time, and now he thinks he has achieved success in this domain. So, he brings a random woman into the house and tries to put Amelia’s consciousness into her. However, all of his experiments failed, and he put their bodies in the backyard.
Does William Agree with these Experiments?
When Richard tells William about restoring Amelia’s consciousness into a new body, he hesitates and later supports Richard in the experiments. However, at one point, when he witnesses the death of a woman during the experiment, right from that point, he decides not to be a part of it. He even tries to stop Richard from conducting these experiments, as there is already news about missing women on television. Whenever William tries to stop Richard or escape from the house, Richard never allows him to do so. He even fights him and confines him to his room. William tries to call the police but fails to muster enough courage to do so. Later, he finds one single opportunity to put an end to all of this, and he doesn’t let it slip away.
Cerebrum (2022) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Richard Successful with his Experiment?
Richard calls Dr. Shelley to come to check on William and puts sleeping pills in her tea. However, she declines the tea and wants to see William to ensure he is alright. She discovers that William is asleep. She senses something is fishy. At that moment, a sound emanates from upstairs. Dr. Shelley follows the staircase and suddenly finds William wounded. William calls the police, and Richard attacks Dr. Shelley. She does her utmost to prevent Richard from harming herself or William. Since William is in no condition to fight, Richard successfully injects something into Dr. Shelley to make her unconscious. He then brings her into the lab and initiates the experiment.
William arrives at this moment and attempts to halt the experiment. Richard tries to prevent William from doing so and pushes him away. William then grabs a scalpel and threatens Richard. However, Richard inserts the scalpel into William’s belly. William is injured, and Richard talks closely to him, attempting to make him comprehend the true reason behind all of this.
Suddenly, William removes the scalpel from his belly and slashes Richard’s throat. William is bleeding to death as Richard dies in front of his eyes. A faint voice emerges from the background when the father and son are dying. It appears that the transfer of consciousness is finally accomplished, and now Amelia finds her way into Dr. Shelley’s body. The experiment is ultimately completed, and neither the scientist nor the protester remains to witness it.
Amelia perhaps continues to exist in a body that is not her own, with no one to call family. Every scientific experiment entails numerous sacrifices. Richard’s experiment ultimately succeeds by sacrificing what he cherishes the most – his chance to be with his wife and son. No matter how ruthless the plan was, love is something that knows no bounds. One cannot blame Richard for his madness; he fails to accept the fact that Amelia is no more. Well, do you consider him a villain?
