Bad Faith in Mr. Nobody

            Mr. Nobody is a movie about a man that can see how the choices he makes will affect the future. Despite having what many of us would consider a super power, he is still plagued by the fact that he has to make many decisions with no clear right answer. This seems to have taken quite a bit of inspiration from existential philosophy. Existentialism is essentially the idea that humans are radically free to make choices throughout life that will have an impact on where they will be in the future. A few existential philosophers believe that humans have a duty to acknowledge the power they have and that denying or giving up this power is to be acting in what they call bad faith. In Mr. Nobody, the main character often acts in bad faith as he tries to deny making a decision because there is no clear right answer. There is a moment in this film where he is forced to choose between living with one parent or the other when he was 7 years old. He sees through all of the timelines and realize that he cannot possibly choose between all of the possibilities. He stands frozen in place, choosing to give up his ability to make decisions. He says, “You have to make the right choice. As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible.” By trying to not let go of any of these possibilities he is acting in bad faith by letting the world make his choice for him.