Everything is connected.

That's not just the tagline for Cloud Atlas, the centuries-spanning film based on David Mitchell's brilliant page-turning blast of old-time adventure, sophisticated romance, 1970s-era crime thrills, futuristic science fiction and post-apocalyptic craziness. It's the thread that holds the whole amazing story together.

Directed by The Matrix's Wachowski siblings and Run Lola Run's Tom Twyker, the film stars (playing multiple roles) Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and others as characters over the span of centuries and film genres.

Here's what we learned: