He named you. You must be special

“It is invigorating being asked personal questions, it makes one feel, desired.”

A protagonist is someone who drives the story forward. In that sense, both K and Luv serve as protagonists in BR49. Added to this, we can see that both pursue the same goal but with different methods. This creates a dual narrative, allowing us to see the results of both approaches. Both character arcs could have carried the film individually, so including them both in the movie shows intention to create meaning.

This meaning becomes apparent when we examine their motivations.

During their initial meeting, the exchanges between K and Luv tread a fine line between professional and tense.

K: “He named you. You must be special.”

This statement has a lot to unpack:

Officer K – designated a number as an identifier, clearly has issues with identity. He doesn’t qualify as human, yet he works for people retiring his own kind. As a sentient being, he is aware of his own existence and designed as a detective. This results in an artificial intelligence that has critical thinking capabilities. Though his skills are designed for use in the field, he will certainly have used these same investigative abilities on himself – specifically, on his identity and the meaning behind his existence. This is an individual that has examined himself deeply, questioned his purpose and repressed the implications, all the while exerting a preternatural level of control on himself. Still waters run deep.

Therefore, K’s initial statement reveals his thoughts on the subject. His assumption of her special nature shows an admiration - even jealousy. This is someone who has dreamed of having a purpose above and beyond his designated function. In Luv, he is looking at what he desires to be.

This hints at a complex relationship between Replicants, one in which they dream, but daren’t share their innermost feelings. Tellingly, Luv doesn’t respond to K’s statement. She is in a similar situation to K: living beneath her existential means. When asked a question that invites introspection, she responds in the same manner as K: with silence and a denial of the reality that confronts her.

Everything which we say is indicative of thought; therefore K’s comment and Luv’s non response suggest a rivalry. In addition to this, there is an air of K’s relationship with Joi in this back and forth. The wry smile he gives Luv shows K’s pleasure in his superiority in the interaction – as the guest, she must serve him, therefore he is the more ‘human’ of the two. In providing a service, she must respond to his questioning. K knows full well she is not permitted to dream, so he has her in a rule-breaking checkmate.

Rather than concede and play a move to her disadvantage, she ignores it. In one sense it shows us the complicated relationship which Replicants have among themselves, echoing very dangerous human behaviors – labeling and hierarchy. On another level, it shows us is how troubled Replicants really are. K’s actions appear to stem from notions of hierarchy, but in reality, watching Luv’s discomfort takes the focus away from his own troubled existence.

This dynamic is completely reversed in the following scene.

We see Replicants, including Sapper Morton’s model on display in glass cabinets. This is a mirroring of K’s work in that both are confronted on a daily basis of their manufactured beginnings. This display is complex in its meaning, showing a level of high technical ability and beauty in the art, but disturbing in its harsh reality. The lighting, mood and feel in this gallery is reminiscent of the works of Francisco Goya and Francis Bacon. Added to this, it’s a reflection of both Replicants’ shared dilemmas – the only thing that keeps them from being displayed in glass cabinets themselves is the daily betrayal of their own species.

This discomfort between the two Replicants is further demonstrated as they discuss the Voight Kampf test audio:

Luv: “It is invigorating being asked personal questions, it makes one feel, desired. Do you enjoy your work officer?”

K: “Please thank Mr. Wallace for your time.”

What’s fascinating in this scene is the lack of empathy between two beings in the same situation, and it’s a sobering reflection on how we conduct ourselves. Their conversation in the entire scene is all surface level. It’s similar to two native speakers of one language talking to each other in a language that’s not their own: words flow, communication occurs, and understanding is there, but the nuance, and humanity between the two is absent. What we must be reminded of here, is that neither person in this scene is human, yet they are emulating the patterns and behaviors of human discourse. It’s an example of the reality that we live in today – They aren’t communicating to connect on a human level, they are communicating to ascertain where the other is on the existence - purpose scale: Who has the greater experience? Who is superior? Who is more alive?

After only one scene between the two, we know that their fates are inextricably linked.

This is especially important when we meet Luv’s owner and employer – Niander Wallace.