Splice is an extended allegory for parenthood masquerading as a science fiction film. To be sure, it has elements that strain at the imagination, but by and large it is more concerned with exploring the stages of child rearing than it is with the titular genetic fiddling.
Clive (Adrien Brody, sporting his dumpy scientist look emphasized by the giant anime poster hanging in his room) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are geneticists whose funding is pulled just as they're about to crack the mystery of human DNA splicing. Rather than acquiesce and severely shorten the movie's running time, they continue testing in secret. The result is a creature named Dren (spoiler alert: it's nerD spelled backwards.) I can't say much more without giving away too many plot details, but Splice manages to lightly touch on themes of euthanasia, (late stage) abortion, stem cell research, and unplanned pregnancy. It mostly ignores the hard science behind the proceedings in favor of an ethical and emotional focus as the two leads convincingly portray the psychological struggles of caring for and raising children.
The film comes off as drab though. The set design and special effects are routinely excellent, giving Dren a number of eeriely human characteristics that seem real but at the same time very unsettling. These become more and more prominent towards the ending which, while exciting, seems out of tune with the rest of the movie.
Much of the joy of Splice is following Clive and Elsa as they cope with the weight of their decisions and new roles, so I'll leave it at that except to say this is one of the most fascinating movies I've seen in a long while.
I've seen this twice now, and I've come to believe that within the first 3 minutes of the movie you either figure out you're going to hate it once seeing Brody's haircut or fall in love with the movie.
ReplyDeleteI fell in love.
Yes, it has problems, and the script feels somewhat lazy and half-baked in parts, but fuck it.
This movie is STRANGE, fucked up, and just plain weird, and I'm surprised the studio took the gamble with giving it a wide release. I can only hope more movies like this are made.
SEXY SIDE NOTE - Everyone I know or talked to about this film HATED IT, and their main complaint was that the movie made them "Uncomfortable" with I found slightly funny.
Isn't that the point of a horror movie?