Elysium is a 2013 American dystopian science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was Blomkamp's second directorial effort. The film stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster alongside Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, and William Fichtner. The film takes place on both a ravaged Earth and a luxurious artificial world (Stanford torus design) called Elysium. The film itself offers deliberate social commentary that explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulation, transhumanism, health care, worker exploitation, the justice system, technology, and social class issues.
The film was released on , 2013, by Sony Pictures Releasing through the TriStar Pictures label, in both conventional and IMAX Digital theaters. It received positive reviews, but critics considered it to be disappointing after Blomkamp's first film, District 9. It grossed $286 million and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 17, 2013 and released Elysium 4K ultra blu ray HD on February 9 2021. 110 minutes Rated R MPA
Plot
In 2154, Earth is experiencing ecocide, it is overpopulated, diseased, and polluted. The planet’s citizens live in poverty while the rich and powerful live on Elysium, an orbiting space station just outside of Earth’s atmosphere.
Spider, a hacker living on Earth in Los Angeles, runs three space shuttle flights to Elysium to smuggle people in to use their Med-Bays, devices that can heal any disease or condition. Elysium Defense Secretary Delacourt shoots down two of the spacecraft in space, killing everyone on board, and has everyone on the shuttle that does reach Elysium arrested and deported. Elysium President Patel reprimands Delacourt for her actions, threatening discharge for any more actions of a similar manner. In retaliation, she offers Armadyne Corp CEO John Carlyle defense contracts for life in exchange for a program that will allow Delacourt to conduct a coup and install herself as president. Carlyle writes the program and stores it inside his brain.
On Earth, parolee Max Da Costa is working for Armadyne Corp as a laborer when he is accidentally exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. He is only given medication for the side effects and told he has five days to live after being fired by Carlyle. Max and his friend Julio approach Spider and make a deal: If Max can successfully steal information from a powerful Elysium citizen, in exchange Spider will give Max a shuttle ride to Elysium to use a Med-Bay to cure his condition. Max demands that the target be his former boss, Carlyle. Due to his health, Spider provides Max with a powerful exoskeleton via surgery to significantly increase his strength and stamina. Max and Julio shoot down Carlyle's shuttle to Elysium; Carlyle is lethally injured in a shootout against his security robots. Max and Julio successfully extract the program from his brain, but can only watch as the data becomes unexpectedly scrambled, locked behind a security program. Delacourt sends a black ops team led by Agent Kruger (whose contract Patel had terminated for shooting the shuttles down) to retrieve it. Kruger kills Julio but an injured Max escapes with a copy of the coup program while Carlyle's death destroys any possibility of further retrieval from his brain.
Max seeks help from his childhood friend and nurse, Frey, who patches him up. Max goes to Spider, who realizes what the data in Max's head is worth; Delacourt locks down all flights up to Elysium, leaving Spider unable to take Max. Max angrily leaves, though not before Spider is able to discreetly place a tracking device on him. After Kruger kidnaps Frey and her daughter, Max approaches him and offers him the data in exchange for the use of a Med-Bay. Kruger accepts and Delacourt lifts the lockdown so the group can travel to Elysium. During the flight, Kruger and Max fight over the data and a grenade explodes in Kruger's face, damaging the ship. The ship then crashes on Elysium; Max is arrested and taken to Delacourt, who orders a team to extract the data. Max escapes and heads to the armory to save Frey, who has been turned over to Kruger's men. Kruger is revived by a Med-Bay and confronted by Delacourt, whom he fatally wounds. He orders his men to start killing the politicians on the station while he dons a more advanced exoskeleton suit to hunt down Max, planning to initiate the coup protocol for himself.