Mr. Nobody is a 2009 science fiction film that tells the story of Nemo Nobody, a 118-year-old man who is recounting the different possible life paths he could have taken. As a child, he was faced with a choice between staying with his mother or father that set him on diverging life courses. He describes having married either Elise, Jean, or having a romance with his stepsister Anna. The film explores themes of choice, consequences, and the butterfly effect through Nemo's recollection of alternate realities. It stars Jared Leto as Nemo and received praise for its philosophical storytelling and cinematography.

2. MR. NOBODY
• Mr. Nobody is a science fiction drama
film. It was written and directed by Jaco
Van Dormael, produced by Philippe
Godeau, and starred Jared Leto, Sarah
Polley, Diane Kruger. Mr. Nobody has
become a cult film, noted for its
philosophy and cinematography, personal
characters and Pierre Van Dormael's
soundtrack.
• Jaco Van Dormael is a Belgian film
director, screenwriter and playwright. His
complex and critically acclaimed films are
especially noted for their respectful and
sympathetic portrayal of people with
mental and physical disabilities.

3. PLOT
In the year 2092, Nemo is recounting his life story to a reporter. He tells of his
life at three primary points in his life: at age nine, age sixteen and age thirty-four.
Nemo explains that before birth, children remember everything that will happen
in their lives. At the moment of conception, the Angels of Oblivion erase their memory.
The Angels, however, forget about Nemo, allowing him to "remember" different possible
futures for himself. At age 9, at a railway station, he is forced to choose as his mother
leaves on a train while his father stays on the platform. In one case, he manages to board
the train while in another he stays with his father.

4. The confusing aspect of the story is that he tells of
alternate life paths, often changing course with the flick of a
decision at each of those ages. One life path has him ultimately
married to Elise, a depressed woman who never got over the
unrequited love. A second life path has him married to Jean.
Their life is one of luxury but one also of utter boredom. And a
third life path has him in a torrid romance with his step-sister
Anna, the two who, as adults, would search for each other after
having been torn apart as teenagers.
Are any of these lives real or are they all a figment of his
imagination?

5. MR. NOBODY

6. CAST
• Jared Leto as Nemo
Nobody. Nemo is a Latin
word meaning "nobody".
• Leto described his role
saying, "Mr. Nobody is
everyone and no one all at
the same time, an illusion,
the product of his own
dreams. He's love, he's
hope, he's fear, he's life
and he's death. This is
without doubt the most
complex character I've
ever played".

7. CAST
• Diane Kruger as Anna.
Kruger described Anna as
"the most complete of all the
characters. She never makes
any compromises, in any one
of her lives. She gets married
and keeps her promise until
the end: she will not fall in
love with anyone else.“
• Actress Juno Temple
portrays Anna at fifteen.

8. CAST
• Sarah Polley as Elise. She describes
Elise as "a young woman who carries a
lot of love inside her. She yearns to be the
best of mothers but just can't do it. She's
frustrated because of this inability to live
the way she would like to live."

9. CAST
• Linh Dan Pham as Jeanne. Pham said that
Jeanne "loves Nemo Nobody with a passion
but he doesn't love her. She thought he was
honest and full of love for her. But as soon
as they start a family she realizes that
something is missing in their relationship,
that he's never really there.“
• Actress Audrey Giacomini portrays Jeanne
at fifteen.

10. AWARDS AND BOX OFFICE

11. THEMES
• Mr. Nobody is a tale about choice. Nemo, a nine-year-old boy, has been
thrust into a position where he must make an impossible decision – to
choose between his mother and father. In the seconds preceding the rest
of his life, he wonders where each choice will take him.
• How actions have universal consequences, how the past inevitably shapes
the future in a very impacting way – every single choice, no matter its
simplicity or complexity can make, alter or change a lifetime.

12. THEMES
• The film also makes substantial use of chaos theory, string theory, and the
butterfly effect to accentuate the lack of control that humanity as
individuals possesses. The theories are used to compound reality in the
film, it is why the smoke never goes back into the cigarette, time is always
moving in one direction.
• The tale of Nemo Nobody reflects a life of choices, whether or not we
made the correct choice and what would happen if we could go back and
change them.

13. THEMES
• The different colors used in the
film have symbolic meanings.
Each of the three main storylines
has its own unique hue that
highlights their originality and
unlikeness to each other.
• Color differentiation can be
traced as far back as Nemo's
childhood, where three girls sit
on a bench. They are his possible
future wives: Jeanne, Elise, and
Anna; one in yellow, the other in
blue, and the third in a red dress.