Muse – Simulation Theory

A group of scientists are sent to investigate a mysterious source producing unknown paranormal activity, which leads them to a concert stage located in London with an arcade cabinet on it. One of the scientists called Murphy (Graham Butler), touches the cabinet, causing him to break the fabric of his reality and is transported into another one where he finds himself in the crowd of a live Muse concert. After being pulled back to his reality, he is then bitten by a mysterious phantom, causing him to become infected with an unknown pathogen and mutate into a monster. A woman (Hannah Whiteoak) then appears and reveals that she is an NPC from the "mainframe". The NPC explains that due to a tear in their reality, a deadly virus has been released and a new entity, known as the "Truth Slayer", is being created.

The media reports on the virus and large sections of London are quarantined off to curb the infection rate, with multiple NPCs coming to fight off the infected people. The NPC then take control of the news broadcasts and puts words in their mouths, stating that the virus is a hoax and that "there is nothing to fear". The Truth Slayer then breaks out of his containment and a hero, known as "The One" (Matthew Bellamy), enters the same reality to stop him from gaining control of more. The One gains access to the mainframe, gaining the power of a glove, and confronts the Truth Slayer. After a climatic battle, The One prevails and defeats the Truth Slayer. The NPC states that while The One may have saved this reality, there are more.

Muse's performances at the O2 Arena, London, on 14–15 September 2019 were filmed.[2] Both the concert footage and the additional narrative scenes were directed by Lance Drake, who had previously worked with the band, directing the music videos for all 5 of the singles from Simulation Theory.[3] Bellamy described the film as Muse's version of Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979), combining musical and dramatic scenes. It was planned for a general cinematic release, but this was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

The film was announced on 11 August 2020 and was scheduled for release on 17 August 2020 in a one-night only IMAX cinema release, with a download and streaming release a few days later on 21 August. Two deluxe edition box-sets of the film were also announced for release on 11 December 2020; both sets contain a Blu-ray of the film with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix packed in an VHS-inspired box, a vinyl and cassette containing select tracks from the film as well as a comic of the film's story among other items.[5]

The film contains live concert footage throughout the film. The soundtrack primarily focuses on songs from the Simulation Theory album, but contains multiple other songs from previous Muse albums as well as additional film pieces composed by Matt Bellamy. Some songs were shortened and re-ordered from how they were played live for the film, and multiple songs played were omitted. The omitted songs included; "Plug in Baby", "Hysteria", "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable", "Time is Running Out", "Reapers" and "Knights of Cydonia".[6]