Afterlight Movie Ending Explained & Full Story: What Happened To Esther?

Focusing on themes and topics ranging from tech scares to dystopian, post-apocalyptic timelines to the dark future of hyperconsumerism and the human cost of conflict, “Afterlight,” by Alison Kohlhardt and Andrew McGee comprises five separate sci-fi stories that evoke the vibe of anthologies like “Black Mirror.” With each of the stories (not interconnected) having its own pacing, approach, and appeal, there is a notable difference in terms of quality. However, even with budgetary constraints hindering the scope, the production design, score, and visuals across all three stories showcase the ambition and positive intention on the part of the makers.

Spoilers Ahead

First Sight: A Different Approach to Moving On

As tech dependency has humankind in its grip, our emotional maturity and social intelligence are put at risk—and the worst outcome is shown in the first short, titled “Afterlight.” Luna, a London-based digital journalist in her mid-twenties, is mourning the recent demise of her husband, Simon, and her coping mechanism includes leading a reclusive life with zero socializing, rewatching their old memories using the smart lens, and getting scared at any proposition of a new start. Even when Luna agrees to meet with her date, Antony, by matching with him on the dating app, First Sight, she is not willing to invest her own thoughts into the conversation, and takes help from the smart lens’ AI. With every piece of information about anything she sees being explained, interactions getting recorded, and suggestions provided, Luna doesn’t feel the need to come out of her self-imposed exile. Interactions don’t seem genuine when visual cues are provided by the lens to carry on the conversation with appropriate topics. Despite that, Luna is able to hit it off with Antony pretty well, and it seems she might finally be able to move on.

Things take a dramatic turn when Luna has to cut the conversation short and go to the restroom after the lens’ AI refuses to assist further unless she unlocks the premium version in exchange for ten thousand dollars. As repeated attempts to remove the lens fail, Luna is horrified upon seeing a threatening message conveyed by the AI flashing in her eyes, which conveys that her eyes have practically been hijacked. Luna’s desperation grows as she is essentially blinded by the lens, and when she still refuses to give in to the demand of the AI, it starts deleting the recorded footage of her and the memories she shared with her late husband. Luna starts turning her phone off and breaking it, both of which result in failure. It is only then that Luna realizes what she must do, what she should have done a long time ago. Taking a final look at her memories with Simon, she drops her phone from the high-rise where she visited her date. The lens finally disconnects, Luna manages to take it out—and gathers her resolve to seek a new beginning by continuing her conversation with Antony. The lens kept Luna lulled in the fantasy where she still feels the presence of her husband, and clinging on to that fantasy, she gave away control over her own mind and emotions.  

The Edenbound: What Does it Take to be a Perfect Soldier?

Set in an alternate futuristic timeline, the second short, “The Edenbound,” focuses on the powerful Eden empire, which has been in conflict with its moon, Aurora, for eons. Eden Army’s admiral summons his daughter, Kara, the finest young pilot of Eden’s military. Kara looked up to her late mother, who was a pilot in the Eden army as well, and she fondly recalls the memory of her being proud at the fact that her daughter had decided to don the uniform as well. The admiral entrusts Kara with the best fighter ship, Eden Bound, and assigns her on her first mission—launching an airstrike on the City of Echoes in Aurora as part of a preemptive measure to ensure that they don’t get to use their latest antimatter weaponry on Eden, which has the potential to annihilate the planet. With the future of her world in her hands, Kara flies off, but her first mission goes awry as Eden Bound crash lands near the City of Echoes following a dogfight with Aurora fighter ships. 

Unable to relaunch the ship or find her way out of it, Kara decides to initiate the self-destruction protocol of Eden Bound to fulfill her mission and sacrifice her life to ensure the security of the citizens of Eden. Right at that moment, Aris, a security official of Aurora, establishes communications with Kara via radio, specifically mentioning her intention to help Kara by initiating a safe extraction. Quite unexpectedly for Kara, Aris initiates a heartfelt conversation about their past lives and individual experiences, which makes it clear that, beyond all the brainwashing and nationalistic pride that seeks to provoke armed conflict, people on opposing sides are not much different from each other and share a common desire to live in peace and harmony. All the while, the voice command inside Eden Bound, presumably an AI consciousness of the admiral himself, tries to remind Kara to remain aware of her true objective, and not let enemy forces get their hands on Eden technology during extraction. Eventually, in the battle in Kara’s mind between morality and duty, the latter wins. Kara’s mother lost her life trying to protect Eden, and despite Aris’ best efforts to convince Kara to act humane and not put the lives of the thousands of innocent denizens of the City of Echoes in danger, Kara decides to follow in her mother’s footsteps and initiate the self-destruction protocol. 

Much to Kara’s bewilderment, Admiral Eden congratulates her as the cockpit of the ship opens. As it turns out, this was a lifelike simulation, aimed to be the final test Kara had to undergo before taking on her first mission. Admiral further reveals the City of Echo is already in ruins, thanks to the ‘heroics’ of Kara’s mother, and the simulation was a recording of her final mission. She ignored the desperate pleas of an Auroran commander and initiated the self-destruction protocol of her ship after it got stranded in the City of Echoes. Like mother, like daughter, Kara has now become the perfect soldier and is no longer hindered by moral scruples. 

Third Segment: Dark Cycle of Evolution

The dystopian, unnamed third segment of the anthology is quite vague in its representation, which might be a dealbreaker for some viewers, but at the same time, the mystique feels quite engaging, motivating the audience to speculate on their own. The short is set in a world where evolution has taken a bizarre, inexplicable course following an unknown event, and species extinct for millions of years are coming back to life. Due to this, humanity has nearly gone extinct as old virus species have spread diseases for which humanity has no cure. The narrative focuses on two survivors, Samantha and Raj, two archaeologists who had dug up the fossilized remains of a theropod Raj had named Sally. As the episode begins, Sally is revealed to have come to life and is suffering in agony, as it had sustained a severe injury billions of years ago. Samantha puts the creature out of its misery by shooting it to death and reunites with Raj to share her experience. Raj, who has been slowly losing his grip over reality while living in a world he can’t make sense of, reveals that he has witnessed the presence of strange, unique, protective costume-clad humanoids whom he has denoted as future humans. Both Raj and Sam remain apprehensive of the intention of the humanoids, as there is a possibility that their arrival triggered the inexplicable change in world biome.  Seeing Raj’s physical health deteriorating, Sam decides to seek help by going outside, even though a reclusive Raj appears averse to the idea. Right at that moment, one of the humanoids arrives at their place, and as Sam tries to shoot it, the humanoid disappears by creating a flashbang effect.  Raj meets his end soon after, and burying him near Sally’s grave, Sam begins her journey to find a safe refuge. 

While recording her recent experiences as a chronicle, Sam finds out she doesn’t have much time left either, as she has started coughing up blood. Sam’s hopes for a safe haven are ruined after she notices everything beyond a point has been flooded, possibly due to the rise of seawater levels as the world returns to its old self. She notices a strange note on a metal plate, ‘Not Our Now,’ which is presumably made by the so-called future humans, which raises the speculation that their effort to return to their timeline through experimental procedures might have triggered such an apocalyptic condition on earth. Sam notices a number of future humans standing right by her side, and initially she tries to hold them at gunpoint. As the humanoids don’t seem aggressive, Sam puts her weapon down, and while taking a step back, fatally injures herself by tripping and falling, hitting her head. In her final moments, as a confused, scared Sam sees a future human looking at her, she likens her condition to that of Sally’s—a creature out of time who couldn’t make sense of the world she was brought into. 

The Journey Begins: Will Cassie Be Able to Find Her Sister?

The fourth segment is set in an alternate future in New Chicago, in 2151, almost 80 years after a global catastrophe known as ‘The Flood.’ Weston Global, a mega conglomerate, is in charge of basically everything, and the majority of the masses are living a slavish existence under its control. With 18 workdays and the daily requirement of water becoming a commodity that needs to be purchased, hyperconsumerism and capitalism have created a hellscape in this futuristic world. Cassie, a low-level employee at Weston Global, recalls how she has lost everyone close to her at the hands of the tyrannical conglomerate. Years ago, her father was taken by Weston execs to repay the eternal debt the company has burdened its employees with, and her mother was taken away by the company for a similar reason. After Cassie lost her grandmother, she became the sole guardian to her dear sister, Izzy, who was taken away by Weston execs who used the excuse of Cassie’s lack of credit to ensure a safe upbringing for her sister. 

At present, Cassie is summoned by Isak, one of her old friends, and while going to visit him, she almost gets robbed by a bunch of delinquents/company employees. However, thanks to the defense training she has taken all through these years, Cassie is able to evade capture and meet Isak near the galactic spaceport. Isak reveals Izzy is stationed on Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, and also reveals that, using his contacts, he has made arrangements to ensure Cassie receives enough credits and due mode of transportation to reach her sister. Cassie almost gives in to her feelings for Isak before leaving to find her sister, and they kiss, but she remembers at the same time how constrained their lives have become by the shackles of the conglomerate. Isak wishes her well for the journey ahead as Cassie sets off. 

Nothing: What Happened to Elizabeth?

The fourth segment, “Nothing,” follows a blind, celebrated veteran astronaut, Elizabeth Esther, one of the five astronauts sent on a deep space voyage in the future timeline of 2098 to find a habitable planet as part of the Life Mission. Elizabeth recalls her past experiences in front of a committee of sorts, how their spaceship entered a wormhole to escape the solar system in search of new horizons, and how after fifteen long years of exploration, they arrived near ‘The Wall,’ a cosmic construct made of pure light and spreading through infinite space. 

Going through the lightspace, the team found a solar system much like the one they left, with the only difference being it was filled with blinding light. The astronauts succeeded in their mission, as they found the Other Earth, a habitable planet, and it can be speculated that the lightspace allowed them to reach a parallel world. Elizabeth lost her vision while exploring the unknown, and the inverse of the cosmic void, the lightspace, took her sight. The committee asks whether Elizabeth suffers from any psychological issues following her cosmic journey. She returned as a much older woman, and quite obviously she must have had trouble connecting with her old life. However, Elizabeth’s nonchalant response and visionless white eyes make it difficult to understand whether that’s the case, as she denies suffering from any complications. The short, highlighting the heavy cost of curiosity, has its own enigmatic, hypnotic charm thanks to the experimentative visuals and acting of the veteran actress cast as Elizabeth—which will surely remind viewers of “Interstellar.” 

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