Directed by Guy Ritchie, Apple TV’s Fountain of Youth stars the enigmatic Natalie Portman, John Krasinski, Eiza Gonzalez, and Domhnall Gleeson in the lead roles. Though the overall aesthetic and visual elements of the film looked good, I was a bit let down by the storyline and the un-inventiveness of the title. The writers tried to build a story using the same old archetypes that, I believe, just made the entire film seem a bit mundane. That said, let’s find out what happened in the Fountain of Youth, and see if Luke and his team were able to find the titular fountain.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Luke want Charlotte to join his quest?
The film opened with Luke Purdue stuck in Thailand in the company of a bunch of thugs who were after a painting that he had stolen. Luke’s father was an archaeologist, and after his death, he had decided to carry forward his legacy and find the hidden treasures of the world. Luke was one of those who believed that behind every myth and bit of folklore there lay a truth. The man was obsessed with finding the “Fountain of Youth,” which unlike others, he believed to be a reality. Luke, to justify his actions, told himself that he was doing everything for his father so that the world would celebrate him as a great explorer, but that was not entirely true. Luke loved the adrenaline rush that these adventures gave him. It gave him a sense of purpose, and there was no denying that he was pretty good at solving mysteries. Luke was fortunate enough to have a sponsor like Owen Carver, a renowned businessman, as he, too, was an adventure junkie. Also, Owen was suffering from cancer, and he felt that using his resources to find the “Fountain of Youth” was worth every penny. Luke knew that he still needed somebody who had a knack for noticing details and solving riddles on his team. He obviously had Deb and Murph on his team, who used to work for his father, but he still felt that he needed somebody he could bounce ideas off of. That’s when Luke decided to ask his sister, Charlotte, to join his squad. Charlotte was going through a very rough phase in her life at that point in time. Her husband had decided to file for divorce, and the legal battle for custody of the kid and the property had made everything very ugly. Charlotte was a curator at an art gallery, and one day, Luke broke into her workplace and stole a painting. He took Charlotte with him while being chased by the local police. He told Charlotte about his idea, but clearly she was not interested in putting her life in jeopardy. There were other more important things that she needed to tend to, but then Charlotte lost her job, as Detective Jamal Abbas, who was in charge of the case, had every reason to believe that she was conspiring with Luke. Also, Charlotte’s husband, Harold, threatened to keep her from ever seeing Thomas again, since she was a suspect in a criminal act. An angry Charlotte stormed into Luke’s place to give him a piece of her mind. But Luke used the opportunity to change her mind and convince her to accompany him on the mission. Owen knew that Charlotte could help their cause, and so he told her that he had a team of lawyers who could help her in the legal battle. It took some time to convince Charlotte, but in the end she did join the team.
How did Luke find the location of the Fountain ?
The local police and a bunch of thugs were after Luke and his team, and to make matters worse, the latter had not been able to make any sort of breakthrough. Luke knew that there were six paintings from the 1600s that had clues hidden in them that could lead them to the fountain. Charlotte told him that the painting he had stolen from her gallery was a fake one, and the real painting was hidden somewhere else. Luke figured out that the real painting was in a sunken ship that was submerged somewhere in the North Atlantic region. Luke and his team went there, only to find out that they had been tracked down by the woman who had attacked Luke back in Thailand. That assassin, Esme, worked for a man called the Elder, one of the protectors who didn’t want the world to find out about the “Fountain of Youth.” Back in the 1600s, these artists, who made the 6 paintings, served as the protectors of the fountain, and then their successors took on the same responsibility. The protectors did so because they felt that the human race was not ready for something like the fountain. They believed that it would be a blunder to give so much power to mortals whose souls were easily corruptible. So Esme arrived with her men, but Luke, just like in Thailand, was able to get the better of her.
Each of the six paintings had a specific letter hidden in them, and together they formed the word “wicked.” It didn’t take long for Charlotte and Luke to figure out that the word hinted at a specific Bible that was published in the era of King James in the 1600s. Actually, this Bible was referred to as the “Wicked Bible” because of a misprint in one of the commandments, which could be interpreted as approving of the act of adultery. Owen used his contacts to make arrangements for a viewing of that Bible in a museum in Austria. Once again, Esme caught hold of Luke, but the latter was able to escape from the museum, taking the Bible with them. The gilding of the Bible had something written on it, and the team believed it to be some kind of code. It was Charlotte’s son, Thomas, who figured out that the code on the gilding was musical notation. Thomas played that tune, and then Murph found out the song was called Water in the Desert. With their combined efforts, the team was able to figure out that the “Fountain of Youth” could be hidden in one of the ancient wonders of the world. The only surviving ancient wonder was the Great Pyramid of Giza, and so Owen made all the arrangements, and the team made their way to Egypt to find the fountain and make history.
Why didn’t Owen get the power of the fountain?
Through muography, Luke had found that the pyramids held secret chambers that nobody had explored up until then. There was a strange sense of excitement and obsession in Owen’s eyes the moment he entered the pyramid. His restlessness was so evident that it made Charlotte think that he had some hidden motive behind sponsoring their quest. Charlotte suspected that Owen was lying about his illness and that he just wanted to dominate the world and become the most powerful man alive. There was something very colonial about the way Owen had acquired certain businesses in the past, which made Charlotte not very sure if they should accompany him inside the pyramid or not.
Meanwhile, Esme gave the Elder an update about the progress that Luke and his team had been able to make. The Elder gave Esme a key, and he told her to use it if she felt the powers of the fountain were likely to be misused. Luke, Charlotte, Thomas, Owen, and one of his henchmen were able to find the fountain at the end. The moment the fountain was discovered, Owen showed his true colors. Charlotte was not wrong in questioning the man’s intentions, as he actually wanted to use the power for his own benefit. Owen, at gunpoint, asked Luke to go into the small pool of water as he wanted to see what would happen. He shot Luke many times but he miraculously got healed due to the power of the fountain. Luke was just about to drink the water when he saw a vision, and then he just stopped himself from doing so. Once Luke’s wound healed, Owen went inside the pool, and he drank from it. But before Owen could absorb the fountain’s powers, Esme arrived at the scene, and she was able to stop the power from falling into the wrong hands. The entire structure started to shut down, and Luke, Charlotte, Thomas, and Esme were able to come to the surface just in time. It is important to understand what happened with Owen and why Esme used the key to trap him or maybe kill him inside the pyramid. The Elder had told Esme that behind the allure of the fountain, there was cruel deception too. The fountain took something in exchange before granting the powers to a person. The person who drank from the fountain had to sacrifice the person they loved the most. But if the one who drank valued himself more than anything else in the world, then the sacrifice wasn’t needed, and they got all the power. In Owen’s case, he just saw his own face in the reflection when he was inside the pool, whereas Luke saw his sister and nephew’s image in it. So had Esme not come at the right time and used the key to reverse the spell, Owen would have become the most powerful man in the entire world. As for Owen, the general presumption would be that he died in the pyramid, but you never know, as anything could have happened in there.
Will Luke And Esme End Up Together?
If there is a part 2 of Fountain of Youth, I wouldn’t be surprised if Esme and Luke end up together, and there is a reason behind my saying so. Firstly, Esme was quite impressed, even though she didn’t explicitly state it, by the way Luke handled everything inside the pyramid. Also, she realized that he was an extremely righteous man who was not lured by power or money. Luke could have easily drunk the water from the fountain and become the most powerful man in the world, but he didn’t do so. That was because he realized the paradoxical nature of the power: it was a blessing as well as a curse. He wasn’t ready to sacrifice his sister and his nephew’s lives, as he loved them and valued their existence more than anything else. Also, Luke was attracted to Esme from the very beginning. The fact that she was not working for some local warlord, but actually putting her life at risk for a noble cause made Luke like her even more. It is quite possible that in the future, under the pretense of hunting him down, Esme will find ways to meet him and they will end up spending some quality time together. As for Charlotte, I think she is going to join Luke’s team full-time, and Thomas, her son, will keep helping them out from time to time just as he had in the current mission.
