Freejack (1992)
Alex Furlong died today. Eighteen years from now he'll be running for his life.
Time-traveling bounty hunters find a doomed race-car driver in the past and bring him to 2009 New York, where his mind will be replaced with that of a terminally ill billionaire.
In Freejack, consciousness is carried by machines — a plane of “corporate immortality dystopia”. The story fights on E8/E11 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing exploitation, immortality, class, technology, identity.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Space Sweepers (2021)E8 · class, exploitation
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)E8 · exploitation, identity
Short Circuit 2 (1988)E8 · exploitation, identity
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)E8/E11 · exploitation, technology
Transformers (2007)E8/E11 · identity, technology
Ghost in the Shell (2017)E8/E11 · identity, technologySame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Species III (2005)E6/E10 · rare rung · exploitation, technology
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)E6/E12 · rare rung · exploitation, technology
The Animatrix (2003)E9/E12 · rare rung · identity, technology
Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (2014)E9/E12 · rare rung · exploitation, identity
*batteries not included (1987)E9/E10 · class, exploitation
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)E9/E10 · identity, immortalityAlso bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Just Visiting (2001)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
The Matrix (1999)alters at E0 · same rung · rigorous
Free Guy (2021)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Bedazzled (2000)alters at E0 · same rung · looseAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Short Circuit (1986)consciousness in machines · sentient robot world
Companion (2025)consciousness in machines · rental‑robot economy
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008)consciousness in machines · cybernetic corporate dystopia
Wifelike (2022)consciousness in machines · android afterlife market
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)consciousness in machines · cyberpunk scrapyard
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)consciousness in machines · digital arcade internetSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)consciousness in animals · exploitation, identity
Status Update (2018)consciousness in aliens · exploitation, identity
Jupiter Ascending (2015)consciousness in aliens · class, exploitation
The Boxtrolls (2014)consciousness in monsters · class, identity
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)consciousness carried elsewhere · exploitation, identity
Society (1989)consciousness in monsters · class, exploitation
