“We wanted a classic big screen movie that had a real sense of scope but which was relevant to normal life and the things we all worry about too,” adds Twyker. Much of the discussion with the trio centres around knowing they wanted something lofty that would fill a cinema screen. All they were missing was the project. But as Andy adds, “From the moment we all read the book, we knew it was the one.”

Cloud Atlas is as enigmatic as it is beautiful, much like the haunting musical motif The Cloud Atlas Sextet that forms the backbone of the score by Australian composer Johnny Klimek. All the elements (from the music to the running time to each self-contained story having its own visual approach) add up to one thing, which was the philosophy of the whole movie.