Oh boy. Now that G20 is over, all the protesters have gone home, and I no longer am needed to secure the precious buildings of the downtown core, I can finally turn my full attention to letting you know about this movie. I saw this one last Sunday, and it's taken me this long to formulate coherent thoughts about this flick. And while i'll try my best to avoid revealing everything about it, this is one of those movies that make it really difficult to talk about without spoiling some of it. So if you're planning on seeing it all, go see it first, then come back and we'll talk. You've been warned - SPOILERS ABOUND.
This movie begins with a breakthrough in genetic technology, with scientists Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) and Clive Nicoli succeeding in creating a purely fabricated genetic entity, made from the genes of various different animals. Unsatisfied with the direction that the company is asking them to take with the creature, Elsa and Clive decide instead to add human DNA to the genetic mixing bowl. They try hundreds of different combinations on the computer until they final arrive upon the perfect mixture of genes. Clive is satisfied knowing that it is in fact possible, but Elsa is obsessed with taking the forumla to the next level, and while Clive has his back turned, Elsa rushes to the splicer and puts in a few drops of her blood. Unsurprisingly, Clive is none too pleased with this turn of events, but they decide to let the splicing process continue and see where it goes.
In the next few days, the fetus of the spliced creature grows at an exponential rate, and within a matter of days is too large for the synthetic womb that Elsa and Clive have created and they must decide to let it die, or birth it. For whatever reason, they decide to let it live, and soon there is a bipedal, reverse kneed creature pattering about the laboratory. In the coming days, the creature shows an aptitude for pattern recognition and a humanlike cognizance. To this end, Elsa begins dressing the creature in human's clothes, and giving her a name, "Dren", which is NERD backwards (NERD being the science laboratory Elsa and Clive work for, I know, Dren is a stupid fucking name.) At first, Dren is hostile towards Clive and affectionate towards Elsa, as Clive keeps trying to kill Dren. As the days go by, however, and Dren becomes more and more like a child rather than an experiment, Elsa becomes a domineering mother character, and Clive the calm and relaxed father lending his support to the troubled creature-child. At this point, the tables turn and Dren begins to favour Clive more than Elsa.
THIS IS WHERE SHIT GETS FUCKY. I AM ABOUT TO SPOIL THE ENDING AND SOME IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE MOVIE, SO IF YOU ARE STILL READING AND HAVE ANY INTENTION OF SEEING THE MOVIE, LEAVE NOW, SEE THE MOVIE, THEN COME BACK AND WE CAN DISCUSS THIS PIECE OF FILM.
One night, Dren witnesses Elsa and Clive making love. This is when Dren is still child like in appearance. When Dren has grown into her adult form (a matter of weeks, remember), this is taken into account. When Dren is upset by Elsa about not being allowed to keep her cat, she goes to Clive for comfort. In his arms, she begins to kiss him, as she saw that one night between him and Elsa. Clive rejects her first advances, but his resolve crumbles in a matter of seconds, and then CLIVE STRAIGHT UP FUCKS THE GENETICALLY SPLICED CREATURE. Elsa catches them, and obviously is mortified. The next few days are filled with domestic troubles (if your husband fucks a creature you created out of animals, there's definitely something to talk about) until they learn that their superiors have found out about their human/animal genetic experiment. They travel to the farm where they've been keeping Dren, only to find that through some genetic mutation, Dren has become a male, and is extremely hostile. Dren knocks out Clive and then advances on Elsa, pins her down, AND THEN RAPES HER. Clives tries to stop him, but is killed, and then Elsa manages to bash Dren's brains out with a giant rock. At the end of the movie, we see that Elsa is pregnant with a splice baby. Jesus Christ.
So, that was a bit of a heavy read i'm sure, but necessary if you want to discuss this movie with any coherence. And obviously, the main thing anyone will remember from this movie is Adrien Brody fucking a genetic experiment, and Sarah Polley being raped by the same. People will call this disgusting, people will call this a waste of time. Most people aren't interested in this sort of business. But if you're willing to look past the layer of shock, you'll see that what this is, is very smart. Because everyone who sees this movie is going to be thinking about this movie for a very long time. At first, just about the sex scenes, but eventually the thinking will progress to the question of what exactly is human, and what is your moral obligation to a thing that you've created.
In terms of the movie itself, it's one of those ones where nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens, then suddenly EVERYTHING happens. Very un-typically hollywood, which I enjoy. The acting could have been a bit sharper, but then I guess no one can really say how they'd act in a situation like this.
At the end of the day, I would say that this movie is not for the casual film viewer. If you *LOVED* Sex and the City, Transformers, A-Team, or any other recent hollywood blockbuster, and thought that they were the best movie in the whole world, you should probably take off right now. Honestly, your mind won't be able to handle this movie. If you're serious about movies, and aren't too squeamish, definitely check this one out because you'll be thinking about it and talking about it for a long time.
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