Cinema Verdict Review: Splice

Splice

OPENING: 06/04/2010

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

RUN TIME: 104 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
The future is born

Opening Statement
The first time I saw a trailer for Splice, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little. It looked like the sort of disposable creature feature that we’ve seen all too many times. Thankfully, the actual film is a surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent effort that stands out nicely in a crowd of underwhelming summer movies.

Facts of the Case
Clive (Adrien Brody, The Darjeeling Limited) and Elsa (Sarah Polley, Dawn of the Dead) are genetic scientists who are involved with each other both professionally and romantically. They’ve been doing groundbreaking work in the world of genetics, splicing together various sorts of animal DNA in the hopes of creating hybrids that will lead to cures for various diseases. Unfortunately, once they make a breakthrough the company forbids them from doing further research and orders them to do whatever is necessary to milk whatever money there is to be made out of the work they’ve already done. Clive and Elsa begrudgingly comply with the latter part of this request, but ignore the former in favor of continuing to do their own experiments on the side.

Dismissing questions of ethics and morality, Clive and Elsa attempt to splice animal and human DNA. Their efforts are a success. The initial plan is simply to observe their creation for a while and terminate before it even comes to full term, but the plans are disrupted when the fully-developed creature emerges far sooner than anticipated. Clive and Elsa can’t help but form an emotional attachment to the curious beast, naming her “Dren” and determining to care for her. Alas, Dren is aging at a remarkably rapid rate, meaning that she moves from infancy to adolescence in a matter of days. As Dren develops new tendencies and physical features, Clive and Elsa are torn between their feelings of compassion for their creation and their concerns about what she is capable of.

The Evidence
Though the film loosely takes on the structure of a horror film (and it’s certainly being marketed to that audience), Splice is essentially a science-fiction-driven drama with elements of horror sprinkled on top for flavor. The film takes place in a world that isn’t too far removed from our own; it isn’t very difficult to imagine a scientific breakthrough along the lines of what is seen. Granted, the specific elements would probably be quite different, but Splice is a reasonably realistic “what if?” tale that’s up to far more than merely making the wheezy old statement that man ought not attempt to play God. Sure, the old “how far is too far?” debate is part of the proceedings, but the film digs deeper than that.

Splice explores the family dynamic in ways that are alternately emotionally affecting, subversive and flat-out sinister; offering a look at two people who are essentially having to adjust very quickly to a creature moving through every stage of childhood at a rapid rate. Raising a child is something that can be both a joyous experience and a very frustrating one, and in this instance the joys and sorrows are elevated immensely given the specifics of Dren’s existence. Imagine the delight in Elsa’s discovery that Dren is able to make sophisticated neural connections, and the terror in the discovery that Dren may have deadly carnivorous tendencies. The stakes are higher than usual, but there are very familiar echoes in the relationship between Dren and her “parents.” However, being forced to adjust so quickly to Dren’s changes eventually leads the scientists to make decisions based less on carefully-considered thought and more on emotional impulses, which naturally leads to further complications.

The trailers suggest that Dren is a savage monster that has been unleashed by irresponsible scientists, and some may actually come away from the film feeling that’s the case… but I don’t think so. I couldn’t help but feel a great deal of pity for her; she isn’t an instinctively evil creature. The film quietly suggests that if splicing together animals and humans is immoral, it isn’t because we would be creating some horrible thing but because we are currently incapable of giving that creation an appropriate environment to grow in. Dren is a unique being with unique needs; it’s incredibly difficult for humans to respond to her correctly without doing something to cause damage. I think a case can be made for the idea that almost everything negative Dren does over the course of the film is a result of specific decisions that were made by the humans responsible for her (and I’m not talking about the decision to create her in the first place).

The film tackles a lot of weighty material; the topics range from abortion to child abuse. However, the movie succeeds because it manages to work on both a metaphoric level and on a basic surface level. I will confess some disappointment at how conventional the final 15 minutes or so feels, as it seems like a requisite sacrifice made to those who came for the standard-issue shocks and jolts. Despite this, even the moments of convention do make sense in context and continue to work well in that dual-layered manner. The performances by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are both quite good, as each is asked to run the emotional gamut and tackle some rather complicated scenes. Good as they are, the show is stolen by French actress Delphine Chaneac; so intensely expressive as Dren under all the heavy makeup and CGI effects. Using only a collection of purrs and screeches, she tells us everything we need to know about her.

Closing Statement
Though it stops short of achieving greatness, Splice is an uncommonly good genre film that kept me involved and intrigued from beginning to end. Recommended.

The Verdict
8/10

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