Cloud Atlas is a film about six interrelated stories. In 1849, Adam Ewing, an American attorney is sailing on a ship from South Pacific to San Francisco when he falls sick. Following the illness, he must be treated by his doctor, Henry Goose. Ewing is also involved in helping a runaway slave. When Ewing arrives in San Francisco, he joins abolition movement. In 1936, a destitute composer called Robert Frobisher is hired by Vyvyan Ayrs to write what he dictates to him. During this time, Frobisher composes a masterpiece called the cloud atlas sextet. Ayrs is not happy with the masterpiece and demands credit. Ayrs’ demands angers Frobisher, who then shoots him and flees away. After he completes the sextet, Frobisher shoots himself. Frobisher’s lover, Rufus Sixsmith, arrives when is too late.
The third story takes place in San Francisco, 1973. An investigative journalist called Luisa Rey is writing a story about corruption at a certain nuclear power plant. The investigation angers the manager of the plant. Thus, he hires a mercenary to kill the journalist. Rufus Sixsmith, now an old physicist, is ready to help Rey unravel the reality. Rey also finds Frobisher’s sextet in an archive. The fourth story takes place in London, 2012. Timothy Cavendish, an aging publisher visits his brother to give him a loan. His brother gives him papers to sign. Later, he found himself holed in a nursing home.
The fifth story takes place in a dystopian Neo Seoul, 2141. A human clone, Sonmi-451, is questioned for her independent ideas. However, she is saved by Hae-Joo Chang and introduced to rebel movement. The last story occurs between 2321 and 2346 in Hawaii. Zachry Bailey is taken to a society of high technology by Meronym. Finally, she settles in a peaceful society where she tells her grandchildren about the stories. In the first five stories, people who are trying to reveal the truths are executed. People are living in societies without freedom of speech. After many fights, eventually, people are living in a peaceful society without violence and oppression.
