He was exiled from Milan twelve years ago. The island gave him powers he was not born with. His daughter was born on the island and has never seen another human being. A ship appears on the horizon. A contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare's most personal and most formally perfect late play — set on a remote island in the present day, Prospero as a former tech CEO whose company was seized by his brother in a boardroom coup twelve years ago. He has lived on the island ever since, developing what the play calls magic and the film contextualizes as an extraordinary command of the island's specific environmental and electronic systems (a very specific version of 'magic' that the film never entirely demystifies). His daughter Miranda has grown up on the island in complete isolation. When his brother's yacht appears in a storm, Prospero engineers its distress and the arrival of all the people who wronged him. The question is what he does with them now he has them.
Act One — The Storm
Prospero engineering the storm. The shipwreck. Miranda's first sight of other people.
Act Two — The Island
The survivors on different parts of the island. Ferdinand and Miranda's immediate connection. Caliban's conspiracy with the drunk butler.
Act Three — The Choice
Prospero's confrontation with his brother. The choice between revenge and forgiveness. Ariel's influence on that choice.
