Cloud Atlas has been described in ways.
Cloud Atlas (film) . Adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell , the film has multiple plots set across six different eras , which Mitchell described as `` a sort of pointillist mosaic . '' The official synopsis describes it as `` an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past , present and future , as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero , and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution . ''