Realive is a movie about resurrection, but it lacks a beating heart

When it comes to using technology and science as narrative tools to probe the nature of the human heart, Spanish writer-director Mateo Gil knows a thing or two. He co-wrote Abre Los Ojos, Alejandro Amenábar’s twisty-turvy tale of a man who might be going crazy, or might be suffering side effects from post-traumatic memory implants. (The American remake, Vanilla Sky, preserved the twists.) He also co-wrote Amenábar’s The Sea Inside, which tells the story of a quadriplegic fighting for the ability to end his life on his own terms. These ideas crash and collide in Gil’s latest film, Realive, which hits video-on-demand services today.

Realive stars Tom Hughes as Marc, an artist with a tumultuous love life. When he learns he has cancer,...

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