Blade Runner 2049 is a 2017 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. A sequel to Blade Runner (1982), the film stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford (who reprises his role as Rick Deckard), with Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista and Jared Leto in supporting roles. Set 30 years after the original, the story depicts a replicant blade runner, K, discovering the remains of a once-pregnant replicant. To prevent a possible war between species, K is secretly tasked with finding the child and destroying all evidence related to it.
Principal photography took place in Budapest, Hungary between July and November 2016. Blade Runner 2049 premiered in Los Angeles on October 3, 2017 and was released in the United States on October 6, 2017, in 2D, 3D and IMAX. The film received acclaim from critics, with some calling it one of the greatest sequels of all-time.
Plot[]
In 2049, bioengineered humans called replicants have been integrated into society as bioengineered life has been necessary to ensure humanity's continued survival. K, a newer model created to obey, works as a "blade runner" for the LAPD, hunting down and "retiring" rogue older model replicants.
K's investigation into a replicant freedom movement leads him to a farm, where he retires rogue replicant Sapper Morton and finds a buried box with what appears to be human remains inside. Forensic analysis reveals they are of a female replicant who died as the result of complications from an emergency caesarian section. K finds this unsettling as pregnancy in replicants was originally thought to be impossible.
K is ordered to destroy all evidence related to the case and to retire the child by his superior, Lieutenant Joshi, who believes the knowledge that replicants are able to reproduce to be dangerous. K, disturbed by his orders, visits the headquarters of replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace who identifies the body as Rachael. In the process, he learns of her affair with former blade runner Rick Deckard, who has disappeared. Believing that reproduction in replicants can bolster his production, but unable to give them this ability himself, Wallace sends his replicant enforcer Luv to steal Rachael's remains from LAPD headquarters and follow K to find Rachael's child. Wallace hopes to use the child to engineer replicant reproduction and expand his off-world operations.
Returning to Morton's farm, K finds a hidden date that matches a childhood memory about hiding a toy horse. K later finds the toy horse at an orphanage, suggesting that his memories—which he thought were implants—are real. While searching birth records for that year, he discovers an anomaly: "twins" were born on that day with identical DNA except for the sex chromosome; only the boy is listed as alive. K seeks out Dr. Ana Stelline, a memory designer who informs him that it is illegal to program replicants with humans' real memories, leading K to believe he might be Rachael's son. After failing a test of his replicant behavior, K is suspended by Joshi, but he explains that he failed the test because he completed his mission in killing the child.
Undeterred, K has the toy horse analyzed and finds traces of radiation that lead him to the ruins of Las Vegas, where he finds Deckard. Meanwhile, Luv kills Joshi after threatening her to disclose K's location. Deckard reveals that he scrambled the birth records to cover his tracks and was forced to leave a pregnant Rachael with the replicant freedom movement to protect her. Luv and her men arrive to kidnap Deckard and leave a badly injured K for dead. K is later rescued by the replicant freedom movement and told by their leader, Freysa, that Rachael's child is actually a girl. Freysa urges K to prevent Wallace from uncovering the secrets of replicant reproduction by any means necessary, including killing Deckard.
In Los Angeles, Deckard is brought before Wallace, who suggests Rachael's feelings for him were engineered by her creator, Dr. Eldon Tyrell, to test the possibility of a replicant becoming pregnant. Deckard refuses to help Wallace, even when promised a replicant recreation of Rachael. Luv escorts Deckard to one of Wallace's off-world outposts to be tortured for information. K intercepts them before fighting and killing Luv. He stages Deckard's death to protect him from both Wallace and the replicants, and leads Deckard to Stelline's office. K encourages Deckard to meet his daughter and laments that all the best memories are hers. Deckard cautiously enters the office and approaches Stelline, while K, severely wounded, lies down on the steps and stares up at the falling snow.
Cast[]
- Ryan Gosling as K / Joe
- Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard
- Ana de Armas as Joi
- Sylvia Hoeks as Luv
- Robin Wright as Lt. Joshi
- Mackenzie Davis as Mariette
- Carla Juri as Dr. Ana Stelline
- Lennie James as Mister Cotton
- Dave Bautista as Sapper Morton
- Jared Leto as Niander Wallace
- David Dastmalchian as Coco
- Barkhad Abdi as Doc Badger
- Hiam Abbass as Freysa
- Wood Harris as Nandez
Edward James Olmos reprised his role as Gaff from the original Blade Runner film. Sean Young also returned to the film to portray the clone of her original character Rachael. This was achieved with the assistance of stand-in actress Loren Peta for some shots and the use of CGI to make her appear as she did in 1982. Archival footage, photos and audio of her performance in the original film is also used to further the plot.