City of Ember

Ember is a fully-contained city built underground to house a human community for 200 years as a shelter from an unspecified disaster. A box has been provided which automatically opens after 200 years, and contains a plastic card and instructions for returning to the surface. Mayors of Ember keep the box a secret and only disclose its existence to their successors in office. When a mayor suddenly dies while still in office, the box is passed on to the mayor's family, and is left in a closet in their house. It is thus unnoticed by anyone when it automatically opens as designed.

Some decades later Ember's food supplies are becoming depleted and blackouts are increasingly frequent and longer-lasting, as the hydroelectric generator that powers the city has deteriorated. Much of the knowledge and technology from the city's near-mythic Builders and earlier generations has been lost.

Two young people, messenger Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and pipe worker Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) are witnessing the city's decay. After a major malfunction of the generator during Ember's annual celebration, Lina, a descendant of the earlier mayor who died in office, finds the box in her home. It contains ripped up pieces of paper and a plastic card. Lina and Doon realize the paper contains instructions on how to exit City of Ember. They explore the city's tunnels, trying to understand the directions, and happen upon the secret bunker where Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) is stockpiling food. Lina attempts to report Cole's hoarding, but is brought to the mayor, who suspects the box Lina is carrying belonged to her ancestor. He and his henchmen attempt to grab it, but there is a blackout and Lina grabs the second plastic card around the Mayor's neck and escapes. Mayor Cole retreats to his bunker where he finds a giant star-nosed mole.

Lina and Doon put together the instructions, use the two joined plastic cards as a key and discover the way out. They receive unexpected assistance from Doon's elderly mentor Sul (Martin Landau). Arriving at the surface they are initially disappointed that it is dark there as well, as described in Ember's folklore, but when the sun rises they discover that light has returned to the skies and the planet has recovered. Seeing through a hole the lights of Ember deep below the surface they tie a message to a rock with instructions on how to leave. It is found by Doon's father, Loris Harrow (Tim Robbins), who understands its meaning.

Cast
Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet
Harry Treadaway as Doon Harrow
Bill Murray as Mayor Cole
Toby Jones as Barton Snode
Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Clary
Martin Landau as Sul
Tim Robbins as Loris 'Barrow' Harrow
Liz Smith as Granny
Amy Quinn & Catherine Quinn as Poppy Mayfleet
Mary Kay Place as Mrs. Murdo
Mackenzie Crook as Looper
Lucinda Dryzek as Lizzie Bisco




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