Review: Splice (2010)
Splice (2010)
8/10
Vincenzo Natali spent ten years writing, researching and making Splice. An independently made film, a Canadian and French co-production, it was miraculously picked by Warner Brothers for a wide release through Dark Castle Entertainment. This is not a film that is going to please everyone. It goes places that will distance and completely turn off much of the mainstream audience. There is a lot to say about Splice and reviewing it is a daunting task. This is a sci-fi horror film that is first and foremost a character study in the form of a psychodrama. It uses the sci-fi/horror genre as a platform to explore a couple and their parenting issues, their interaction with one another, the ever-changing relationship the protagonists form with their creation Dren and the consequences of looking at an actual being as if it were an experiment.
Elsa (Sarah Polley) and Clive (Adrian Brody) are two scientists that have been together for seven years and are also innovative in their field. They come off as young people caught up in their own potential abilities and their wardrobe and their ‘hipness’ display a self-awareness in their elevated idea of themselves. They have come up with a new species that contains a growth protein for crops. Once a pharmaceutical company takes over the operation Elsa and Clive are forced to abandon their project in order to synthesize the protein. They both are enormously against the idea because they wanted to continue their efforts in the hopes that finding a way to incorporate human DNA would pave the way to curing any number of human diseases. This leads to the unauthorized secret creation of Dren (Delphine Chaneac) who is a hybrid of various animals and human DNA. Dren ages at a much faster rate and they eventually decide to raise the creature. Clive’s reluctance and Elsa’s devotion grow in opposite directions as their relationships changes paralleling their personal issues that are addressed at the beginning of the film. As Dren becomes more intelligent and thus more dangerous, the family unit continues to evolve in increasingly complex and disturbing ways.
Splice is not about scares or thrills or setting up a thin story as an excuse for gore. It is about Elsa, Clive, Dren and the troubling and constantly evolving family dynamic they form. More importantly, Elsa and Clyde are flawed characters that each carries their own demons. As Dren displays more and more human like characteristics, the line between human and creature is blurred as there is no simple good guy/bad guy dichotomy. Elsa is a little too power-hungry and has serious control issues. Her ambition fogs her humanity and eventually her maternal instincts cloud her judgment further. In addition to this, her mommy issues come to the forefront. While she looks at Dren as her child, she also looks at her as primarily an experiment. This allows her in her mind to treat her as first a pet and then as a thing which as we can see as the film progresses she is much more than. The actions Elsa takes, once we think or Elsa as a mother and Dren as a child are extremely disturbing and she unknowingly becomes her mother in her attempts to desperately retain control. Clive on the other hand is reluctant from the start but just as complicit. He becomes lost in the achievement and constantly goes past his own comfort level without ever giving up his fear of what they are doing. At first afraid of Dren, he moves in the opposite direction of Elsa. He goes from wanting to kill Dren from wanting to comfort her and while Elsa continues to see Dren more and more as a monster as she loses control, Clyde continues to see Dren and more and more human and eventually he goes from comforting her to…well…you will see. Dren on the other hand, does not speak and so it is impossible to know what she is thinking. Natali told the actress who plays Dren to make it unclear what she is thinking. Dren is in an adolescent stage for much of the film and her confusion makes her a fully realized character. She is clearly intelligent but her inability to speak and only make noises means that Dren has no control over anything and is essentially a parallel for a very badly abused child who is not allowed and/or does not know how to express herself the way she wants. She is clearly going through all the emotions of an adolescent and as she wants to discover herself more and more, she is further stifled.
This is not covering all of the character interactions and dimensions going on between these three but the overabundance of the length and content of the paragraph should give an indication that this is a different type of sci-fi/horror film and that it is most notably a character study of a deeply dysfunctional family unit. Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody are both fantastic as Elsa and Clive. They are not afraid to make their characters unlikable and they scarily make the audience understand why they do what they do even if we do not agree with their choices we always know where they are coming from. As Dren, (Delphine Cheaneac) is wonderfully ambiguous and relatable creating what will hopefully be a sort of culty iconic figure in the future. It is also always nice to see David Hewlett, a Natali regular.
Every aspect of the film needs to be touched on because, again, there is so much going in with both the content and technical aspects. Natali restrains himself in his direction and smartly goes for subtlety. His slight use of difference lenses and his ability to make a film consistently interesting despite it mostly taking place in either an ordinary looking lab or a barn are admirable. He has superb confidence in pacing and keeps everything at a successfully slow pace without trying too hard to make every moment filled with shock or action. He has a wonderfully slow editing pace which is a welcome change to the now normal quick cutting of films and it does not go for cheap or predictable scares. There is also a scarce use of musical score, another unconventional move for a sci-fi/horror film. Many scenes unfold without music. Many scenes occur that just involve talking and character development. The score that does exist by Cyrille Aufort has a romantic touch to it that also goes against the sci-fi/horror norm. Also, Natali puts in moments of genuine humor that feel fused and realistic with the world and not thrown in for relief. Finally, let us not forget the fantastic special effects. The adult Dren is a completely convincing fusion of real and CGI. If Dren had not worked, the film would have sunk. Thankfully she makes everything fully believable thanks to the really impressive effects.
I feel bad for distilling all of those aspects of the film down to one paragraph but, again, there is a lot to talk about with Splice. Something else that somehow works is the moralistic part of it. This is obviously dealing with genetics and splicing and aspects of science that are both very relevant and very controversial. The film does function as a cautionary tale but it makes a point of depicting the individual character’s decisions as the reason for the consequences depicted in the film which both further enhances it as a character study and erases the films potential to be bogged down in preach filled parables. The film raises interesting questions without thankfully providing us with answers and while it is certainly moralistic, it makes a point of being a specific situation with specific characters and not a statement on splicing and genetics.
The film goes to some whacked out places and for some there will be a scene that is a ‘jump the shark’ moment. I am not sure it works completely but I absolutely praise Natali for going where it does because it clearly wants to alienate, confuse and disarm people. If everyone liked it, it would be a failure. It is strange and messed up and disturbing and fascinating. When I was watching it I was not buying it, upon reflection I am completely into it.
This review may sound like universal praise but the last ten minutes are so latent with flaws that it takes down the film a few notches. For one, this is when the film delves into pure horror territory and it is unfortunately unsuccessful. The scary moments are not scary and there should have been at least more gore to go along with the frenzied events to add to the jarring quality it wants to have. Also, something happens that essentially erases all of the family dynamic that came before it and did not feel necessary at all. Another event that takes place in the final minutes involves Elsa and felt like punishment for her actions and control issues as if the story was ‘sticking it to her’ so to speak. The film clearly wants to come full circle by the end and in order to do that something needed to happen to Elsa but it still felt like cruel punishment in the part of Natali for a woman trying to be dominant and in control. In general, I am weary about the gender exploration of the film but admit that it is complex and one of the most interesting aspects. The last ten minutes are fully unsatisfying though as it fails in every aspect and makes the film’s hard work and success pointless.
Despite the last ten minutes, Splice is far and away one of the best sci-fi/horror films I have seen in a long while. It sticks with you after you see it and it works because it uses the format of the genre to function as a dysfunctional family psychodrama character study. Strong, confident and complex in every aspect it is so much better than it needs to be and shows that the genre can really offer something that has a lot going on. The last ten minutes do damage the film more than I hoped. However, the vast majority of the film offers fascinating explorations of parenting, gender roles, genetics, sexual inclinations, over ambition, humanity, evolution and much more. Splice is not only memorable but it is one of the best films of the year.
Horrorphile
Cinema Enthusiast
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
Film & TV on DVD
I didn't read this one either for fear of spoilers. I'm a big fan of the Director and look forward to a potentially entertaining sci-fi thriller.
Horrorphile
Cinema Enthusiast
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
Bryn - Natali is best known for Cube which is the other film of his I have seen and love. He has made that, Splice, Cypher, Nothing and a documentary on Terry Gilliam.
Horrorphile
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Good insight.