Essence of Life

A futurist story of people who have survived after a plague has killed most of their loved ones. So what does the government do. It makes it a crime to dwell on the past. Those who do this are severely punished. It's been eleven years and this is the solution to things. What things? What did this have to do with anything. Joel Gray plays a person who sells drugs made from DNA which allow people to have a brief encounter with former lover, son, daughter, etc. This guy is considered a terrorist. Why? The police run around breaking into houses, destroying lives; one particular man is absolutely possessed. Another gets hold of some of the substance he got during a sting which is his dead wife's DNA. Since he is an enforcer, he is supposed to turn it in. Of course, he tries it. He meets the image of his wife. The whole thing pushes the very bounds of reason when it comes to even the most far fetched implications of the future.

I agree with the other reviewer that the premise is fairly ridiculous. It also doesn't seem necessary. Basically, there's an illegal and highly addictive drug that (possibly) lets the user see their dead love ones come back to life. This would be illegal NOW in our real world and doesn't require the implausible backstory of the government outlawing people dwelling on the past.

Dr. Seward's statement about dwelling on the past stealing time from the future is also quite true in the real world.

Daniel Baldwin gives a performance that's rather stunning and heartbreaking when you find out just what's weighing on him.