Splice Review

Splice (2009)




Director - Vincenzo Natali 


 Genetic Engineers Clive (Adrien Brody, Predators) and Elsa (Sarah Polley, Dawn of the Dead- 2004) have successfully created a set of new life forms using the DNA from different animals which the company want to produce proteins to use as food sources around the world. Once completed they tell the company they can use the technology to create a life form using animal and human DNA, to which they are refused permission, which they ignore and go forth and create Dren (Delphine Chaneac, The Big Black) and secretly raise her first at the lab and then at Elsa's family home. 

 I heard good things about Splice, but when I put it on spent the first ten minutes thinking that I was watching another Species and thought I was in for an hour and forty minutes of predictable storyline and half baked action. I was wrong. 


 Splice is a clever and beautiful story of bonding, relationships and the human condition. It is about two scientists raising their 'child/creation' and learning the meaning of parenthood. The script is well written and the acting is brilliant, especially from Sarah Polley who is, in my opinion, one of the most under-rated actresses in Hollywood today. The CGI is well thought out and as executed to perfection, which it needed to be for the concept to work. The cinematography is spot on and the direction is superb. 

 Splice is not a Horror and is more a science fiction drama, so all you out there looking for gore and shocks look elsewhere (even though it does contain a few disturbing scenes). If you are looking for a heartfelt, honest and true portrayal of how these events would unfold, then Splice is for you. There are not allot of films these days, especially in the sci-fi genre, where you feel so emotionally attached to the caricatures, but Splice has this in abundance. 


 I really enjoyed this film and it took me by surprise and I found myself wondering why I had never heard of this film. Out of the many films I have seen in the last month, Splice is the best by far. 


9/10