Review: 'Swan Song' showcases a strong performance by Maheshala Ali, in a thoughtful look at death with a science-fiction twist.

A soulful performance by Mahershala Ali bolsters “Swan Song,” a thoughtful take on the familiar science-fiction trope: What would you say if you met your own clone?

Ali plays Cameron, a graphic designer living in the near future, with a loving wife, Poppy (Noemie Harris), and an 8-year-old son, Cory (Dax Ray). Cameron also is dying, but he hasn’t told Poppy yet. Instead, he has met with Dr. Jo Scott (Glenn Close), whose company is offering an alternative: Creating an exact duplicate of Cameron, down to the molecular level, and transferring his memories and mental abilities into the clone.

As with any science-fiction story, writer-director Benjamin Cleary (who won an Oscar for his 2015 short film “Stutterer”) has to establish the ground rules. Dr. Scott tells Cameron that he can’t tell Poppy about the clone, or the deal is off. Also, the clone — who’s called Jack while in the transition stage — will have his memory of meeting Cameron wiped, so the clone ultimately will never know he’s not the original.

Cleary creates a fluidly paced, sleekly designed film that makes room to explore the philosophical questions of such a medical breakthrough. What should a dying man think of the replica created to replace him? Is it OK to replace yourself if your family doesn’t know the difference? And if a man argues with his doppelgänger, is he really just arguing with himself?

Ali’s dual performance finds subtle but real differences between the original Cameron and the copy, and both are compelling as they discuss how and why Cameron is making this decision. Harris gives an achingly tender performance as Poppy, whose past experience with grief goes far in explaining why Cameron is considering being cloned. And Awkwafina gives a strong, serious performance as Kate, a dying woman who got cloned, so she’s been where Cameron is going.

None of the logistical or philosophical questions about cloning are particularly fresh — not to anyone with a solid grounding in science fiction. What makes “Swan Song” worth a look is the way Cleary and Ali tackle those ideas, with quiet emotion and genuine curiosity.

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‘Swan Song’

★★★

Opens Friday, December 17, in theaters, and streaming on AppleTV+. Rated R for language. Running time: 112 minutes.