Metal

**Metal** is a 2018 French animated cyberpunk action film directed by Dominique Blonceau, produced by Arif Sandhu, and written by Blonceau and Sandhu, based on Aksel Johansen's 1961 short story of the same name. Set in a dystopian 2036, it tells the story of PR, a leader of a biker gang whose childhood friend acquires incredible telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident, eventually threatening an entire military complex amid chaos and rebellion in the sprawling futuristic metropolis of New Paris.

## Plot

On July 16, 1986, the third world war is triggered by the sudden destruction of Paris. The metropolis has been rebuilt as New Paris on artificial islands in the Seine. In 2036, the city is plagued by corruption, anti-government protests, terrorism, and gang violence, causing martial law to try and uphold the peace. During a violent protest, the hot-headed PR leads his vigilante gang, the Capsules, against their rival biker gang, the Clowns. PR's best friend, FS inadvertently crashes his motorcycle into a young boy named Lapin, a psychic who escaped from a government laboratory with the aid of a resistance organization. Assisted by fellow psychic Masaru, the France Self-Defense Forces Colonel recaptures Lapin, takes FS away, and arrests the Capsules. While being interrogated by the police, PR meets Hoodie, an activist within the resistance movement, and tricks the authorities into releasing her with his gang. Hoodie is pardoned, but the Capsules are sent to reform school as punishment.

At a secret government facility, Colonel and his head of research Doctor Borch discover that FS possesses powerful psychic abilities similar to Metal, the psychic responsible for the singularity that destroyed Paris in 1986. Psychic Jean forewarns the Colonel of New Paris's impending destruction, but the city council dismisses the Colonel's concerns, leading him to consider killing FS to prevent another cataclysm. Meanwhile, FS escapes from the hospital, steals PR's motorcycle, and prepares to run away from New Paris with his girlfriend, Show. Shortly after, they are ambushed by the Clowns who then beat FS and tear off Show's shirt. The Capsules save FS and Show, but FS begins suffering intense headaches and hallucinations and is taken back to the hospital.

After overhearing their plan to rescue FS and the other psychics, PR joins Hoodie's resistance cell. At the hospital, the psychics try to kill FS via hallucinations, but the attempt is thwarted. Discovering his telekinetic abilities, FS searches for the psychics in a fit of rage, easily killing any orderlies and militiamen blocking his path. The resistance group infiltrates the hospital, and Jean draws Hoodie and PR into the psychics' futile attempts to stop FS. Jean tells FS that Metal, located in cryonic storage beneath the Olympic Stadium's construction site, could help FS with his powers. After rejecting everyone around him, especially PR, FS escapes the hospital to start his hunt for Metal.

Hoodie, used by Jean as a medium to stop FS, breaks her and PR out of military custody. The Colonel stages a coup d'état against New Paris's government and directs all of its military forces to destroy FS at any cost. At the Capsules' former hangout Harukiya Bar, FS walks in and demands pills from the bartender who asks for a higher than usual payment. Gangmates O and P soon arrive and discover the bar in shambles and the bartender dead. FS then confronts them over PR's bike and kills O after his protest. P somehow escapes and relays the news to PR, who vows to avenge his friend, while Lapin brings Hoodie away. FS, mistaken for Metal by cultists, rampages through New Paris, arriving at Metal's cryogenic storage dewar under the stadium. Hoodie fights FS, but he defeats her and exhumes Metal, only to find that his remains have been sealed in jars for scientific research.

PR confronts FS and fights him with a laser rifle but fails to stop him. The Colonel fires an orbital weapon at FS, destroying his arm, but FS flies into space, takes over the weapon, and uses it across the city. He soon destroys the weapon before it shoots him again. The Colonel and Show approach the stadium, where FS, now with a robotic arm, is in great pain and losing control over his powers. Show attempts to restrain FS while the Colonel offers to return him to the hospital, heal his injuries, and help control his abilities, which FS refuses. PR again confronts FS who, weakened from the missing arm, mutates into a gigantic mass of flesh, engulfing PR and killing Show. As the mass grows, the psychics revive Metal to stop it. After briefly reuniting with his friends upon his revival, Metal creates a singularity, drawing FS and PR into another dimension. The psychics teleport the Colonel to a safe distance as the singularity destroys New Paris in a mirror of Paris's previous destruction. They agree to rescue PR, knowing that they will not be able to return to this dimension as a result.

In the singularity, PR experiences FS and the psychics' childhoods, including his and FS's friendship and the psychics' training before Paris's destruction. The psychics return PR to New Paris, informing him that Metal will take FS to safety and that Hoodie is developing psychic powers. After witnessing the birth of a universe, Doctor Borch is crushed in his laboratory. After consuming New Paris, the singularity disappears, and water floods the crater left in its place. PR, mourning the loss of FS, discovers that Hoodie and P have survived, and they ride off into the ruins while the Colonel watches the sunrise. The film ends with FS introducing himself in another plane of existence.