Synopsis
Charlie is a Zoo-Head, heavily addicted to Zootropics, a powerful hallucinogenic with a disturbing side-effect: massive memory loss. He lives in a rundown squat with his recovering girlfriend Meghan and the enigmatically eccentric Barton, who was formerly a Neurological Science intern at Infinity, a very controversial Therapy business.
Charlie is forced to enter a trial for a radically experimental Rehabilitation treatment, compelled by the authorities who threaten to withhold his Welfare Benefits as ransom. Developed by Infinity the technique is supposed to recover his memories and put his mind back to its earlier state, before he became addicted, exposing and curing the psychological issues that created his addictive personality. It does not go well. He re-lives some deeply traumatic experiences on a childhood visit to a remote beach with his now deceased Father. The effect is to overwhelm and corrupt the treatment process. Charlie becomes trapped in horrifying memory loops which feature recurring but varied versions of the beach experience and events at the squat.
His present reality, his past nightmares and hallucinations from the ‘Zoots’, which he is now not supposed to use, become dangerously scrambled in his tortured synapses. Haunted by these demons Charlie’s psyche repeatedly dies while under the treatment at Infinity, shutting down in defence, only to reboot and re-live his increasingly disturbing and confused memory loops. Meghan tries to help and reveals the depth of her feeling for him. Charlie realises he actually has something precious to live for but it may be too late.
Pierce, the Infinity scientist leading the treatment, wrestles to help Charlie survive. He tries breaking into his psychotic state, calling to him via the Infinity system in an attempt to guide him towards a mental exit route. Meanwhile, Barton and Meghan are increasingly woven into the twists and turns of Charlie’s extreme visions.
Mistrustful of Infinity and using Barton’s past knowledge, they all break into the laboratory to try and find a path for Charlie out of the pernicious memory loops. Barton come up with a theory, they steal equipment and try out his idea back at the squat. Under Barton’s experiment the visions become more and more intense. Now Meghan features in them and seems to have become almost infected somehow, as she shares Charlie’s memories. Affected by this she relapses and dies tragically, overdosing on ‘Zoots’.
The loops now go into overdrive but Charlie appears to start resolving his past conflicts, or so it seems. Guided by the voice of Pierce he finds himself in a more peaceful version of the childhood beach.
Then, the persona of Pierce joins him on the beach to explain that all has not been at all as it had seemed throughout but he is now cured and in a far better place.
Apparently.