Living With Yourself – The Best You Can Be

By: Ellie Dolan-Yates

In quite possibly one of the strangest opening scenes ever, Paul Rudd is emerging from beneath the ground in the middle of the woods while trying to free himself form the clingfilm that is suffocating him.

Twenty-four hours prior to sprouting from the soil, Miles (Rudd’s character) is staring mindlessly at a fly buzzing around his office. A colleague dumps a file on his desk telling him he’s needed in twenty minutes for a pitch. He uses the file to swat the fly and tells it that it’s welcome. In the meeting he tells the room that he doesn’t have anything for the “Hillston pitch” and that he’ll need a couple more days. His boss (Karen Pitman) calls on Dan (Desmin Borges) to tell the team what he has in mind. Dan gets Miles to hand out VR headsets to the room, but there’s none left for himself. Miles is left facing his own reality.

A party is being thrown for Dan at TGI Friday’s and Miles asks him what changed with him. He used to hide behind interns and now he is winning favor of their boss. Dan lets Miles in on his secret – a spa. He explains to Miles that his mind, body and soul were cleansed. He says it’s expensive, but it’s been worth it. Dan says he’s not worried about the competition from Miles and hands him the business card for the spa. Miles makes his way home and, as anyone who walks through the house in the dark trying to be quiet does, he walks straight into the side table waking his wife Kate (Aisling Bea). As he is getting into bed he thinks about kissing his wife, but doesn’t. Instead, he bangs his head on the headboard and turns over and reaches into his pocket, pulling out the card for the spa.

Miles wakes to his phone ringing, the business card for the spa stuck to his face. It is the fertility clinic confirming his appointment but, yet again, he’ll have to reschedule. Miles and Kate are sat at the table for breakfast. Kate reminds him that if he doesn’t go to his appointment they’re never going to be able to make a baby. He reminds her that it’s expensive, but she argues that they’re not saving for anything else and his work will pick up. Miles just sighs and Kate is clearly frustrated. She tells him it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but he says he doesn’t want to ruin a nice morning. Kate sarcastically says she wouldn’t want to ruin the “nice” morning they’re having and leaves, muttering that she doesn’t know how many more of these “nice” mornings she can take.

Miles is struggling to replace the blown lightbulbs and asks Kate where the new ones are. He finds one, but it still won’t work so he punches the lights out of it. With his hand bandaged, he rings Top Happy Spa. They tell him it will be $50,000 and give him the address. Miles does what no married person should do and empties his savings account and heads to the spa. As he pulls up to the disappointing looking spa, he contemplates whether he should go in or not. That is until he sees none other than Tom Brady (Tom Brady) emerge and tell him that he’s visited the spa six times. I always knew he was too good to be true! Taking inspiration from the GOAT himself, Miles heads into the spa.

Taking in the serene surroundings, Miles is surprised when the owners of the spa (James Seol and Rob Yang) magically appear. They talk to him about how bad life can be, but their process will give him better DNA and make him the best version of himself that he can be. He hands them the $50,000. Miles is taken to a bed and one of the men takes a sample from his mouth. They put a mask over his nose and mouth and turn on the gas, but there seems to be a problem. The two men speak in distressed Korean to each other as Enya plays over their confusion. Miles tries to ask what’s going on but drifts off.

We’re back in the forest with a cocooned Miles trying to free himself. He runs through the woods in just a diaper until he gets to a farm. The owner (Gene Jones), who appears to know him, asks what he’s doing. Miles runs to the road and tries to catch a lift. He tests the spa experiment by standing in front of a car which does stop, but drives off when he says they’re going to be friends. Miles finds himself doing something else that no married person should ever do and that is coming home in the middle of the night wearing nothing but a diaper. He walks into the side table again, but this time he can hear voices upstairs. A male voice is asking his wife what time she has work in the morning. Angry, he runs to grab an axe and waits for the man to come downstairs. They scuffle and the other man takes the axe from him and pins him against the wall with it. Miles is shocked to see that the man upstairs with his wife is…him! They both reply to Kate when she asks if she needs to come down and New Miles (also Paul Rudd) backs Miles into the basement with the axe. They argue over whose house it is and whose wife Kate is. Miles mentions that all he remembers is going to a spa and waking up in a grave. New Miles says that he remembers waking up in a spa, but then going to work and coming home. Miles gets dressed, takes a screwdriver and they head for the spa.

On their way to the spa they quiz each other over their childhood to determine whether they are really the same person. When they reach the spa the owner is shocked to see two of them! Once inside, it is explained to both Miles that this procedure is still in its early stages and reproductive cloning is still illegal in 187 countries. It turns out that they were planning on dissolving original Miles, but due to maintenance problems they just buried him. Miles 2.0 is left quiet and confused whilst Miles is arguing with the owners over at least getting a refund. When Miles hits him, he asks who the clone is and doesn’t like the answer. Miles asks what the men suggest they do seeing as they can’t have the same life. They offer them a 10% discount or 20% if they refer a new customer. Both Miles’ are left in shock.