An ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell`s sprawling literary novel, Cloud Atlas presents six stories that span from the mid-19th century to the distant, post-apocalyptic future. A notary aboard a ship in the Pacific (Jim Sturgess) befriends a Maori slave. A rebellious musical prodigy (Ben Whishaw) creates a haunting melody while apprenticing himself to an aging composer (Broadbent). A genetically engineered clone reveals her humanity, becomes the figurehead of a revolution, and is worshipped as a goddess by pidgin-speaking natives (and Hanks) centuries laterâ€