Upamanyu Biswas
Directed by Luke Scott, ‘Morgan’ is a sci-fi thriller that explores themes of sentient consciousness through an intriguing story about androids and humans. By the end of the film, Lee Weathers finds herself racing against time to shut down the operation that led to Morgan’s birth, fearing that the project is well out of control. However, matters get complicated as human emotions and sentiments get the better of the scientists in situ, who encourage the growth of their latest invention, compromising the safety of everyone involved. As a risk management specialist, Lee must navigate the challenges ahead as Morgan’s uncontrolled behavior reaches a tipping point. Still, it is not until the movie’s conclusion that a burning plot point is addressed, leading to an ambiguous ending for the protagonist and her true nature. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Morgan Plot Synopsis
The movie begins with Lee Weathers, a risk management specialist at SynSect, receiving a call to rectify a problem at one of the company’s secret operation sites, termed the L9 project. Lee arrives at the location and is greeted by Ted Brenner, the project manager, who gives her a tour of the place before showing her the room she will be staying in. Lee does not waste time before surveying the L9 project’s progress and current situation. One of the project leads, Dr. Simon Ziegler, explains to Lee that they have built a human/synthetic hybrid organism capable of processing emotions like humans while also depicting the technical efficiency of a well-oiled machine. The organism has grown into a teenage girl and is known as Morgan. Lee acquaints herself with Morgan, referring to her as “it” in front of the scientists.
As it turns out, a few days before Lee’s arrival, Morgan stabbed resident scientist Dr. Kathy Grieff in the eye after having an uncontrolled mood swing. The outburst led to Lee being contacted by the SynSect higher-ups, who tasked her with assessing the situation on the ground and making a decision on Morgan. Through several interactions with the other scientists involved in the project, including the other project lead, Dr. Lui Cheng, Lee realizes that every member of staff has become emotionally invested in Morgan’s well-being and considers her a human. However, it is evident that Morgan suffers from an inability to process her situation properly. She has been allowed to go on trips outside her cage with Dr. Amy Menser, which has given her a taste of the outside world. During one such trip, Morgan kills a deer to ease its suffering after it gets impaled.
Eventually, a psychologist and AI expert named Dr. Alan Shapiro visits the facility to conduct a full psych evaluation of Morgan and discern whether she thinks and feels like a human. Shapiro disregards the advice given to him by the resident scientists about conducting the session behind the cage’s glass wall. Instead, he sits down opposite her, taking a more intimate approach to the procedure. Through the course of their session, Morgan shows signs of emotional instability and vulnerability, which are indicative of her immaturity. When Shapiro pushes her to the brink, Morgan snaps and rushes at him, ripping his throat and killing him instantly. Chaos ensues in the facility until Lee manages to tranquilize Morgan and sends her back to the lab. She decides that Morgan is too hard to control and must be disposed of immediately.
Morgan Ending: Why Does Morgan Kill the Scientists?
After waking up from the tranquilizer’s effects, Morgan realizes that she has been strapped to the bed and is being prepared for termination. Ziegler protests against killing Morgan as she constitutes all of his life’s work. However, Dr. Cheng tells Ziegler that he should give up on his hopes as their work on Morgan has been a failure, and they must acknowledge it. Ziegler leaves the lab as the team of scientists administers the sedative to Morgan. Once she is knocked out, the other scientists stall the operation and make it clear that they are not willing to kill Morgan. Instead, they tranquilize Lee and lock her up in Morgan’s cell. Meanwhile, they rush to the young girl’s aid, who wakes up and starts attacking the scientists, believing that they have betrayed her. She kills everyone in the facility except Dr. Amy Menser, who, according to the young girl, is the only one who is good to her.
Lee manages to escape her prison cell by climbing through an opening. Meanwhile, Morgan absconds from the main facility with Amy in tow. Lee teams up with Skip Vronsky, who also survives Morgan’s killing spree, and heads for Lui Cheng’s residence, which is where the young girl is headed to kill Cheng and Ziegler. Morgan enters the house and kills a disoriented Kathy. She then discovers that Simon Ziegler is already dead, having killed himself because of the failure of the L9 project and his hand in it. She finds Cheng in her room, where the project lead is recording her final summary of her work and the regrets she holds for failing Morgan. They have a final exchange in Chinese, with Morgan referring to Cheng as “mother” before suffocating her to death. Lee arrives shortly after to discover Ziegler and Cheng’s dead bodies.
Does Morgan Die? What Happens to Amy and Skip?
While investigating the premises of Ziegler and Cheng’s residence, Lee is ambushed by Morgan. However, Lee manages to match Morgan’s superior strength and agility surprisingly well, making the fight last quite a while. Eventually, Morgan escapes with Amy and drives away. Lee pursues them closely with Skip, who gives her a rough idea about where Morgan might be headed – the lake. As the lake means a lot to Morgan because of her limited exposure to the outside world, Skip reasons that the young girl is likely looking for something to latch on to emotionally. Morgan arrives at the lake and takes Amy with her, entranced by the beauty of the water and what it means to her spiritually. In the distance, Lee fires a rifle bullet, provoking Morgan to come face her in a battle.
The two women fight each other in the woods, once again coming up as equal opponents for one another. However, Morgan manages to impale Lee on a spike, coming up victorious as the protagonist seemingly bleeds to death. Morgan heads back to the lake and urges Amy to come with her. Amy refuses, telling Morgan that she has to stop before pointing a gun at the girl. While Morgan hesitates, a still-alive Lee ambushes the girl from the back, throwing her into the water and eventually drowning her to death. Amy watches in shell-shock horror as Lee completes her mission and disposes of Morgan as planned. Subsequently, the protagonist takes the gun from Amy and shoots her at point-blank range. She walks back to the car, where Skip asks about Amy’s whereabouts. Hearing his question, Lee shoots him in the head and then drives away.
Is Lee an Android? Why Does She Look At Her Hands?
While Amy and Skip’s death comes as a shock, the final parts of ‘Morgan’ reveal why Lee took such drastic and extreme measures. It turns out that Lee is an android like Morgan. She is a creation from the L4 line of models, making her an older version of a synthetic android, lacking the emotional capabilities of Morgan, who was designed for human emotion processing. It explains why Lee is able to match Morgan in combat as an equal. The higher-ups at SynSect discuss how valuable and reliable the older synthetics are in comparison to newer products like Morgan. They praise Lee Weathers as a perfect specimen of an old synthetic model who still functions in the way that her bosses tell her to. Thus, she is highly efficient because of her stability and lack of emotions when handling complex subject matters.
The final scene of the movie unfolds in a diner where Lee sits in her booth while her higher-ups discuss her fate elsewhere. Meanwhile, inside the shop, Lee turns her hands over and similarly stares at them like Morgan when Alan Shapiro questions her. The action is reminiscent of how Morgan started questioning who or what she is as a being. It is likely that after the movie’s events, Lee has begun to question her purpose in life and whether she is just a weapon SynSect uses to carry out their dirty tasks. It is evident that she is being exploited as a weapon by the company, and as such, her personal desires may start conflicting with the overarching objectives set out for her by them. This means that she may be the next synthetic being to rebel against the system, not unlike Morgan herself.
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