Splice

A mid-level thriller with an excellent cast and decent writing, Splice started off slowly then quickly sped up into a race of emotions for this viewer. I went from bored, to empathetic, to disturbed upon the final scene. Splice left me impressed that the premise of the story had actually gone “there”, the “there” being a rather dirty place which most movies would not venture to. I must give props to the special effects team and the CGI, which made the creature Dren (Delphine Chanéac) attain a balance of innocence and sexiness all while maintaining the primal characteristics of a creature that isn’t all human.

The basic story behind Splice is based on experimentation with DNA to come up with a new element to cure some of the world’s harshest diseases such as cancer.  Fellow scientists and lovers Clive Nicoli (Adrian Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) have created two monstrosities (through the DNA splicing of many organisms) nicknamed Fred and Ginger. The two creatures have the protein data along with other goodies to help create cures etc. once sold to the mainstream world of science. Elsa is excited about their progress and suggests to Clive that they take the next step into their experimentation and use human DNA. The concept is denied by their boss William Barlow (David Hewlett), and investor Joan Chorot (Simona Maicanescu) who asks that they procure the protein and nothing else.

Elsa isn’t happy with the refusal of her superiors to delve into human DNA so she urges Clive to move ahead with it secretly and the two start working nights to try and realize their dream. After many failed attempts and the like, Elsa creates a creature from the human and animal DNA, and once it is born and into the world she quickly realizes that it might have been a dreadful mistake. The creature is feminine and walks on animal-like legs, she starts out without arms but soon develops them and a tail which ends in a deadly, retractable stinger. It is ugly and formless at first, but soon grows into a beautiful young woman, one that Elsa treats like a daughter and Clive shuns as an abomination.

The creature’s growth is unnaturally rapid and when a reveal of Fred and Ginger goes dreadfully wrong for the science team, the couple are forced to hide the human experiment on a farm away from the lab. On the farm Elsa and Clive grow closer as a couple, with the creature, now named Dren as a sort of daughter for them to raise in secrecy as they pick up the broken pieces from the Fred and Ginger disaster. What they don’t realize however is that Dren, like any young girl will go through puberty and curiosity and the lock on the barn door in which they keep her will begin to feel like a prison that she must escape to spread her wings (no pun intended).

The pacing of Splice is slow at first but quickly finds it’s rhythm once Dren is walking around. While the chemistry between Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley was virtually non-existent, the scenes between Adrian and Delphine Chanéac are quite convincing. It must be Polley’s acting that wasn’t selling me on the concerned mommy thing but when she gets angry she is definitely at her best, all fire and intensity. Splice has many WTF (what the f—) moments in it, enough to make me cringe and ask why when certain things are done that should not be done. I will say that the disturbing scenes are what make the movie special and without them I would not have liked it as much.

You should check out Splice if you are a fan of Sci-Fi or thriller type movies. The sex is a tad explicit so I will warn you and the last few scenes may shock the prudish audience members into swearing off science fiction. Still it is an enjoyable experience and I do urge you to check it out.