Absolutely Anything (2015) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A frustrated teacher learns that limitless power cannot replace judgment, consent, or responsibility.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Test For Humanity

The galactic council discovers evidence of humanity and debates Earth's fate. It selects Neil as a random human test subject and grants him limitless power.

Key Events

• Probe Reaches Galactic Council — A probe containing information about humanity is found and presented to the galactic council. Characters: Self Location: Galactic council chamber
• Earth Faces Judgment — The council debates destroying Earth or admitting humanity and creates a ten-day test. Characters: Self Location: Galactic council chamber
• Neil Receives Limitless Power — Neil is randomly selected as the human who will receive limitless power. Characters: Neil, Self Location: London
• Neil Endures School Pressure — Neil works as a teacher while struggling under Headmaster's authority. Characters: Neil, Headmaster Location: London school
• Neil Notices Catherine — Neil's crush on his neighbour Catherine establishes his personal motivation. Characters: Neil, Catherine Location: Neighbourhood

Wishes With Consequences

Neil initially uses the power impulsively, destroying a classroom and then reversing the resulting zombie catastrophe. He continues with smaller personal experiments involving Ray and his dog.

Key Events

• Classroom Is Destroyed — Neil's angry wish destroys a classroom and kills the students inside. Characters: Neil Location: London school
• The Dead Return — Neil wishes for everyone who died to return, causing the dead to rise as zombies. Characters: Neil Location: London
• The Explosion Is Reversed — Neil reverses the disaster by wishing that the explosion never happened. Characters: Neil Location: London school
• Ray Gains Worship — Neil makes another teacher worship Ray because Ray is too shy to express his feelings. Characters: Neil, Ray Location: London school

Love And Captivity

Neil and Catherine grow closer, but Grant's jealousy creates a violent confrontation. Grant kidnaps Neil and forces him to reshape society through absurd wishes.

Key Events

• Petty Wishes Escalate — Neil experiments with personal gains and uses his power to make his dog speak. Characters: Neil Location: London
• Catherine Visits Neil — A failed attempt to control Catherine's feelings is followed by her unexpected visit and an intimate night. Characters: Neil, Catherine Location: Neil's home
• Grant Sees Them Together — Grant observes Neil and Catherine together, intensifying his jealousy and hostility. Characters: Neil, Catherine, Grant Location: Catherine's apartment building
• Catherine Misunderstands Neil — Catherine hears the dog profess love for Neil and concludes that Neil has a boyfriend. Characters: Neil, Catherine, Ray Location: Neil's home
• Neil Reveals His Ability — Neil breaks Grant's arm, repairs it, and reveals how spoken wishes and gestures activate his power. Characters: Neil, Catherine, Grant Location: Catherine's apartment
• Grant Kidnaps Neil — Grant binds and gags Neil, threatening the dog to force him to grant selfish wishes. Characters: Neil, Grant Location: Unknown room
• Grant Distorts Society — Grant demands huge ears, duck feet for English people, and pink police uniforms. Characters: Neil, Grant Location: Unknown room

The Cost Of Control

Catherine and Ray rescue Neil, who reverses the dangerous worship surrounding Ray. Catherine rejects Neil's controlling behavior, pushing him toward a more altruistic use of power.

Key Events

• Catherine And Ray Rescue Neil — Catherine and Ray rescue Neil from Grant's captivity. Characters: Neil, Catherine, Ray, Grant Location: Unknown room
• Fanatical Worship Is Reversed — Neil reverses the wishes, stopping the violent worship surrounding Ray. Characters: Neil, Ray, Catherine Location: Ritual gathering
• Catherine Rejects Control — Catherine says she could never love someone who tries to control others. Characters: Neil, Catherine Location: London
• Neil Reforms The World — Neil grants abundant food, universal homes, an end to war, and a reversal of global warming. Characters: Neil, Self Location: Earth

The Final Reversal

Neil's attempts to solve global problems create catastrophic unintended results, and despair drives him toward suicide. The transferred power defeats the alien destruction plan, while Neil and Catherine begin again.

Key Events

• Utopian Wishes Backfire — The wishes cause obesity, housing expansion, irrational wars, and a global ice age. Characters: Neil, Self Location: Earth
• Neil Reverses Global Damage — Neil reverses the failed attempts to solve the world's problems. Characters: Neil Location: Earth
• Neil Jumps Into Thames — Disheartened by his failures, Neil attempts suicide but survives while rescuing his dog. Characters: Neil Location: River Thames
• Power Passes To The Dog — Neil transfers the power to his dog after hearing that the dog would avoid selfish wishes. Characters: Neil Location: River Thames embankment
• Council Orders Earth's Destruction — The council judges humanity unworthy because it interprets compassion and peace as weakness. Characters: Self Location: Galactic council chamber
• Doom Weapon Turns Back — The dog wishes for the power source to be destroyed, causing the council's weapon to rebound onto its ship. Characters: Self Location: Space near the alien ship
• Neil Asks Catherine Out — With renewed confidence, Neil asks Catherine out and she agrees. Characters: Neil, Catherine Location: London

Story Breakdown

• Galactic Judgment — The alien council places Earth under moral examination through a human power experiment.
  • Probe Discovery — A space probe reveals information about humanity to the galactic council.
  • Ten-Day Test — The council gives one random human limitless power before deciding Earth's fate.
• Neil's Frustrated Life — Neil begins as a pressured London teacher with workplace resentment and romantic insecurity.
  • School Pressure — Neil struggles under Headmaster's authority at the school.
  • Catherine's Attraction — Neil has a crush on his neighbour Catherine.
• Dangerous Experimentation — Neil discovers that casual wishes can produce death, resurrection, social distortion, and unintended consequences.
  • Classroom Disaster — An angry wish destroys a classroom and kills its students.
  • Zombie Reversal — Neil restores the dead and then erases the original explosion.
  • Personal Wishes — Neil manipulates Ray's romantic situation and gives his dog speech.
• Grant's Violent Control — Grant exploits Neil's exposed ability and turns the power into a weapon of coercion.
  • Romantic Jealousy — Grant sees Neil with Catherine and reacts as her hostile stalker ex-boyfriend.
  • Forced Wishes — Grant kidnaps Neil and demands absurd physical and social changes.
  • The Rescue — Catherine and Ray free Neil from Grant's captivity.
• Moral Awakening — Neil confronts the harm caused by control and attempts to use his power altruistically.
  • Catherine's Rejection — Catherine refuses to love someone who controls others.
  • Global Solutions — Neil provides food, homes, peace, and climate reversal through wishes.
  • Utopian Backfire — The attempted solutions cause obesity, land shortages, wars, and an ice age.
• Power's Final Transfer — Neil survives despair, transfers the power, and indirectly defeats the council's destructive judgment.
  • Thames Survival — Neil survives a suicide attempt while rescuing his dog.
  • Alien Destruction — The council decides Earth is unworthy because it equates compassion with weakness.
  • Weapon Reversal — The power source is destroyed and the council's doom weapon rebounds onto its ship.
  • A New Beginning — Neil asks Catherine out, and she agrees.

Directed by

Terry Jones

Key Cast

• Simon Pegg — Neil
• Kate Beckinsale — Catherine
• Rob Riggle — Grant
• Robert Bathurst — James Cleverill
• Sanjeev Bhaskar — Ray