movie review splice

Somebody let the genome out of the bottle

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley in "Splice."

Well-timed to open soon after genome pioneer Craig Venter’s announcement of a self-replicating cell, here’s a halfway serious science-fiction movie about two researchers who slip some human DNA into a cloning experiment, and end up with a unexpected outcome or a child or a monster, take your pick. The script blends human psychology with scientific speculation and has genuine interest until it goes on autopilot with one of the chase scenes Hollywood now permits few films to end without.

In the laboratory of a genetic science corporation, we meet Clive and Elsa ( Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley ), partners at work and in romance, who are trying to create a hybrid animal gene that would, I dunno, maybe provide protein while sidestepping the nuisance of having it be an animal first. Against all odds, their experiment works. They want to push ahead, but the corporation has funded quite enough research for the time being and can’t wait to bring the “product” to market.

Elsa rebels and slips some human DNA into their lab work. What results is a new form of life, part animal, part human, looking at first like a rounded SpongeBob and then later like a cute kid on Pandora, but shorter and not blue. This creature grows at an astonishing rate, gets smart in a hurry and is soon spelling out words on a Scrabble board without apparently having paused at the intermediate steps of learning to read and write.

Clive thinks they should terminate it. Elsa says no. As the blob grows more humanoid, they become its default parents, and she names it Dren, which is nerd spelled backward, so don’t name your kid that.

Dren has a tail and wings of unspecific animal origin, and hands with three fingers, suggesting a few sloth genes, although Dren is hyperactive. She has the ability common to small monkeys and CGI effects of being able to leap at dizzying speeds around a room. She’s sweet when she gets a dolly to play with, but don’t get her frustrated.

The researchers keep Dren a secret, both because they ignored orders by creating her, and because, though Elsa didn’t want children, they begin to feel like Dren’s parents. This feeling doesn’t extend so far as to allow her to live with them in the house. They lock her in the barn, which seems harsh treatment for the most important achievement of modern biological science.

Dren is all special effects in early scenes, and then quickly grows into a form played by Abigail Chu when small and Delphine Chaneac when larger. She also evolves more attractive features, based on the Spielberg discovery in “E.T.” that wide-set eyes are attractive. She doesn’t look quite human, but as she grows to teenage size she could possibly be the offspring of Jake and Neytiri, although not blue.

Brody and Polley are smart actors, and the director, Vincenzo Natali , is smart, too; do you remember his “The Cube” (1997), with subjects trapped in a nightmarish experimental maze? This film, written by Natali with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Douglas Taylor , has the beginnings of a lot of ideas, including the love that observably exists between humans and some animals. It questions what “human” means, and suggests it’s defined more by mind than body. It opens the controversy over the claims of some corporations to patent the genes of life. It deals with the divide between hard science and marketable science.

I wish Dren’s persona had been more fully developed. What does she think? What does she feel? There has never been another life form like her. The movie stays resolutely outside, viewing her as a distant creature. Her “parents” relate mostly to her memetic behavior. Does it reflect her true nature? How does she feel about being locked in the barn? Does she “misbehave,” or is that her nature?

The film, alas, stays resolutely concerned with human problems. The relationship. The corporation. The preordained climax. Another recent film, “ Ricky ,” was about the French parents of a child who could fly. It also provided few insights into the child, but then Ricky was mentally as young as his age, and the ending was gratifyingly ambiguous. Not so with Dren. Disappointing then, that the movie introduces such an extraordinary living being and focuses mostly on those around her. All the same, it’s well done, and intriguing.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Brandon McGibbon as Gavin
Delphine Chaneac as Dren
David Hewlett as Barlow
Sarah Polley as Elsa
Adrien Brody as Clive
Antoinette Terry Bryant
Douglas Taylor

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Movie review: ‘Splice’

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“Splice” is a hybrid that works. It’s a smart, slickly paced, well-acted science-fiction cautionary tale-horror movie-psychological drama. In its mix are ethical quandaries in biotechnology, nature versus nurture and an adorable-sexy-disturbing monster. So there’s that. But it wins best in show by focusing on one of the weirder relationship triangles in recent memory.

Elsa (Sarah Polley) and Clive ( Adrien Brody) are brilliant scientists creating genetically modified organisms to harvest proteins that might cure diseases. Their crowning achievement is a pair of multi-animal creations that resemble massive, fleshy worms. When they realize they’re about to lose the chance to pursue their ultimate goal — a human-animal hybrid ( George W. Bush was right!) whose proteins could defeat cancer and other scourges — they rush to finish their work. As Clive says, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

As one might imagine, the worst is more than a Petri dish of nonviable goo. The resulting creation, Dren, resembles a rabbit-cat-human infant at first (the visual effects are top notch), something downright huggable. They start off so cute….

The clever script and grounded performances — especially by Polley — convincingly sell the “good idea at the time” hubris of geniuses making horrible decisions. Polley’s Elsa is a multilayered person balancing an aversion to motherhood with deep-seated maternal yearnings.

Perhaps the film’s most interesting and nerve-jangling component is the evolving dynamic among the childless couple and their experiment-pet-baby-monster. The authenticity of that triangle is sure to generate some of the most uncomfortable laughter you’ll hear at a movie this year.

The film avoids cliché and has several effective reveals and genuinely funny moments, including one of the least-encouraging shareholder meetings ever. As the boss who is very worried, David Hewlett is hilariously unhappy. Delphine Chanéac, who plays Dren for most of the film, marries the behaviors of several animals with the emerging consciousness of a human being.

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“Splice” has echoes of “Aliens” and “Frankenstein,” but whatever components the film is sewn together from, it feels original. That’s largely because of the seriousness with which the characters and their qualms are explored. The film earns its freakiness: Director Vincenzo Natali and company have wisely realized that if situations and conflicts are believable first and foremost, the experience will be far more immersive — and intense — than the usual jumping-out-of-cupboards nonsense.

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'Splice': Your Results May Vary (And Be Scary)

David Edelstein

Mom? Dren may be a modern-day Frankenstein's monster, but Delphine Chaneac plays her with a mythical beauty and ballerina's grace. Sarah Polley stars as Elsa, one of the creature's two creators. Warner Bros. hide caption

Director: Vincenzo Natali
Genre: Science-Fiction Horror
Running Time: 100 minutes

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Creating new life is a messy business -- so said Mary Shelley, writing in the early 19th century in Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. So you'd think, given all the gene-mapping and cloning going on nowadays, that horror movies would be lousy with Frankenstein scenarios -- cautionary tales in which technology outpaces our understanding of how to use it. But mostly we have splatter flicks, torture porn and lame remakes. In that context, Vincenzo Natali's Splice calls to us like a luminous laboratory beaker. What a strange and wonderful brew!

It's set in Toronto and owes a lot to David Cronenberg , especially his films The Brood and The Fly. Throw in Splice and you can start to define an Ontario subgenre: faceless, sterile modern settings, wintry and blue-lit, in which monsters are grown or hatched. And those monsters have a metaphorical component; they're as much a product of wayward emotions as of liberated biochemistry.

In Splice, Canada's own Sarah Polley and long-faced Adrien Brody play Clive and Elsa, celebrated nerdy scientists splicing genes for a pharmaceutical company -- called, in fact, NERD, for Nucleic Exchange Research and Development. When we meet them, they're delivering a new life form, literally, from some kind of pulsing ovum in an incubator -- a giant, wormy, wriggling mass of tissue from which they're going to mine all kinds of patent-worthy medical processes.

But then company bigwigs put the kibosh on future research: Use what's there and generate capital, they command. That's when Clive and Elsa think: Why not mix in some human DNA and see what grows? Just to, you know, prove they can. After a lot of tinkering, the implant takes. The fetus -- a kitchen sink's worth of species -- comes quickly to term. And then we hear the words immortalized first in 1931 by Frankenstein 's Colin Clive: "It's alive."

Clive is about to gas the lab and kill the infant creature, but to stop him, Elsa whips off her oxygen helmet. That's the first sign in Splice that the two will approach this "child" from different angles. Clive, very nervous, wants to kill it. Elsa develops less scientific feelings.

It's Alive: Polley and Adrien Brody star as nerdy scientists who inadvertently create the humanoid Dren as part of a genetic research project for a pharmaceutical giant. Warner Bros. hide caption

It's Alive: Polley and Adrien Brody star as nerdy scientists who inadvertently create the humanoid Dren as part of a genetic research project for a pharmaceutical giant.

What's endlessly fascinating in Splice is trying to get a handle on what the creature is. Elsa calls it "Dren," nerd spelled backwards, and it's seemingly female.

First it's a pile of flesh with eyes on either side of its head. Then, quickly, since its growth is accelerated, it begins to look humanoid, albeit with other components, from amphibious to avian -- plus a long tail with a lethal spike. It has no language you'd recognize -- clicks and rattles and chirps.

When Dren makes too much of a racket, Elsa and Clive sneak her down -- she's wearing a cute little dress -- to their facility's dank basement.

"I don't know about this," says Clive.

"You got a better idea?" asks Elsa.

"I'm starting to feel like a criminal," he says.

"Scientists push boundaries," his wife says. "At least, important ones do."

You know no good will come from this, right? But the way in which it all goes bad has a distinctly human dimension. It turns out that Elsa, so militantly maternal, had an abusive mom -- and as Dren grows over a couple of months and becomes more assertive, like a mischievous child and then a rebellious teenager, something dark and scary in Elsa takes hold. And Clive, who wanted to destroy Dren, begins to soften. Soon this high-tech Frankenstein acquires a vein of freaky, low-tech Gothic psychodrama.

Brody and Polley are thoroughly convincing when their characters are smart, and only slightly less so when they turn crazy-dumb. But then Dren could drive anyone mad: The Paris-born actress Delphine Chaneac plays the maturing monster with help from creature effects designer Howard Berger, and she has her own mythical beauty. Her head tilts, birdlike, as her wide almond eyes take in her new world. She totters on colt legs above bird feet, but with a ballerina's poise.

I'm sad to say the climax of Splice feels too rushed. But if gene-splicing can give us monsters as poetically strange as Dren, it bodes well for our horror movies -- if not necessarily for our species. (Recommended)

Splice Review

A latter day frankenstein tale, by way of cronenberg..

3.5 out of 5 Stars, 7/10 Score

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Splice Review

23 Jul 2010

103 minutes

The characters in Splice are named after actors in James Whale’s Bride Of Frankenstein; an indication of the approach writer/director Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Cypher) took to the subject of artificial life. Like Mary Shelley, Natali is concerned with scientific ethics — intensified in the 21st century by corporate sponsorship and demand for profitable products from expensive research — but equally troubled by the unique relationship Frankenstein and the monster may have. Signalled by a mid-film location shift from antiseptic corporate lab to run-down Gothic farm, sci-fi turns to horror as the personal failings of the creators and the created lead (inevitably) to violent clashes.

For the most part, this is a complex character drama: Elsa (Sarah Polley), who has seemingly put her own horrible childhood behind her, resists having a baby with Clive (Adrien Brody), but is eager for her experiment to become a daughter, though she is as flustered by Dren’s extreme metamorphoses and mood-swings as any mother of a tearaway teen. The centrepiece of any Frankenstein film is the monster, and Dren is extraordinary, portrayed by Delphine Chanéac with CGI augmentations. Sprouting wings or gills, with a deadly barb at the end of her prehensile tail, Dren feels as real as Karloff’s Monster. Natali plays expertly on our sympathies as the plot takes a darker tone — this is a horror movie in which we are as afraid of what will happen to the monster as of what she will do to other people.

Frankenstein’s crime was not loving his monster. This film asks what may happen if a mad scientist loves the creation; the creature shyly adores the labcoats who have bred her, but is still capable of jealous anger. There are as many heartfelt, emotional scenes as acute horror moments. An oddly disjointed third act offers more conventional action/horror but feels curtailed (major plot points, even characters, get swallowed between scenes) and less poignant than the build-up.

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DVD & Streaming
Drama , Horror , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

June 4, 2010
Adrien Brody as Clive Nicoli; Sarah Polley as Elsa Kast; Delphine Chanéac as Dren; Abigail Chu as Child Dren

Home Release Date

October 5, 2010
Vincenzo Natali

Distributor

Warner Bros.

Movie Review

It’s a simple question, made up of two insignificant words. But it’s the question every world-shaking scientific discovery has been predicated upon. What if mold could be used to treat disease? What if we split the atom? What if we went to the moon?

Or, in the case of genetic researchers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast, what if we spliced DNA from different animals and created a life-form the world has never seen?

That’s the question Clive and Elsa (romantic partners as well as scientific peers) have answered in the forms of Fred and Ginger, the slug-like results of their genetic-engineering experiments. And they’re just getting started, they think. Until the pharmaceutical company bankrolling them says it’s content to extract one special protein from Clive and Elsa’s creations and call it a day.

No way, Elsa says. Not now. Not with so much on the line. Like this tantalizing extrapolation: What if we spliced human DNA? Clive questions the ethics of his girlfriend’s reckless suggestion. But he doesn’t stop her.

The consequence is Dren.

At first, Dren—conceived and incubated in an artificial womb—looks like the fusion of a kangaroo, a mole and a dinosaur. But she grows and changes … fast. With each passing day, Dren looks more human. Soon, she’s not just an experiment. She’s more like a daughter .

So Clive and Elsa whisk Dren out of the lab to a deserted farm once owned by Elsa’s mother. That buys them some time to figure out what happens next. Meanwhile, Dren matures into something like a beautiful young woman. Never mind her retractable wings, ape-like agility, extra leg joint and ability to breathe underwater. Oh, and her long tail.

With Dren’s changes, Clive and Elsa soon realize, come more questions … the kind of questions that come after you’ve blown the lid off Pandora’s genetic box without considering what comes next.

[ Note: The following sections contain spoilers. ]

Positive Elements

When things go unimaginably wrong with Dren—in ways that Clive and Elsa scarcely could have foreseen—the message the film delivers is unequivocal: The unintended consequences of genetic manipulation are beyond anyone’s ability to predict.

Early on, Elsa rationalizes her desire to combine human DNA with that of animals by telling Clive to consider all the diseases—Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer—that their research might cure. In the end, however, the film strongly suggests that such rationalizations are arrogant and foolish.

Both Clive and Elsa have fleeting moments of clarity in which they try to convince each other that they’ve crossed taboo boundaries. “This is the disaster everyone worries about,” Clive says, “a new species set loose in the world.” And when Clive makes an insanely immoral choice later on, Elsa scolds harshly, “There are some things we do not do.”

As the film progresses, Elsa becomes more and more emotionally unhinged, and we learn that her mother was insane and emotionally abusive. Trying to overcome her own flawed genetic heritage, however, Elsa works hard (when she’s not losing her temper) to be a good “mother” to Dren. She uses Scrabble letters to teach Dren to communicate, for instance, and at times tenderly cares for Dren’s needs. Elsa gives Dren a Barbie doll that Elsa’s own mother had forbidden her to play with. Elsa also puts makeup on Dren as she becomes more and more human looking. Clive has some similarly tender moments with Dren, such as when he tries to teach her to dance and calms her by saying he loves her.

Spiritual Elements

A brief conversation between Clive, Elsa and another colleague shrugs off the suggestion that the scientists are playing God. Speaking to an audience about their discoveries, Elsa waxes eloquent about creating new life “by design,” referring to Fred and Ginger as a new “origin of the species” and a new “Adam and Eve.”

Dren’s eventual appearance—with wings and a pointy tail—arguably brings to mind caricatures of both angels and demons, perhaps a visual metaphor for the promise and peril of genetic tampering.

Sexual & Romantic Content

While mostly clothed, Clive and Elsa have sex on a couch. We see her gyrate on top of him—as does Dren, who watches the copulating couple through a gauzy curtain. Clive notices her watching, but doesn’t stop.

Dren may be part animal, but her appearance is all human from the knees up. Her bare breasts get lots of camera time when Elsa cuts her dress off to perform a gruesomely violent procedure on her. Sexually attracted to Dren, Clive at first reacts to his own feelings with shock and horror. But he gradually gives in to his lust, watching her swimming naked on a live video feed—and ultimately mating with her.

That culminating sexual scene is lengthy and explicit. It includes fondling, nudity, and graphic sexual movements and sounds. (Elsa bursts in just as Dren is climaxing.)

Then things get much, much weirder … and disturbingly darker. Dren spontaneously undergoes a mutation in which she changes into a male. He then chases Elsa down in a forest and begins tearing her clothes off and ultimately rapes her. (At this point the camera focuses on their faces.)

Violent Content

A public exhibition of Fred and Ginger goes bloodily awry when the two creatures stab and kill each other with their spiky tails. The glass cage they’re in overturns and showers blood on the shocked audience.

Dren’s “birth” is a vicious, gory affair in which her first act is to bite Elsa. Clive holds a struggling Dren underwater when she’s fairly young. It seems as if he’s trying to drown her, though eventually she begins breathing the water. When Elsa questions whether Clive knew that Dren was an amphibian, he says yes. But we still get the feeling that he was in fact trying to kill the creature they created.

Dren kills a cat with the needle-like appendage at the end of her tail. She then tries to do the same to Elsa, who resists her.

What happens next is truly shocking. After knocking Dren out with a shovel to the head, Elsa straps her to a table and tears her clothes off. Though she had been relating to Dren like a beloved daughter, Elsa now reverts to treating her like a scientific specimen. As Dren writhes in horror, pain and fear, Elsa mercilessly cuts the end of her tail off in what feels like a torture scene from one of the Saw movies.

After Dren morphs into a male, he kills two of Clive and Elsa’s associates. (We see their bloodied bodies.) Clive impales Dren with a sharp tree limb. Dren returns the “favor” by killing Clive with his stinger. Elsa finishes Dren off by crushing his head with a large stone.

Crude or Profane Language

Nearly 20 f-words; half-a-dozen s-words. God’s name is misused six or seven times (twice with “d‑‑n”). Jesus’ name is abused three times.

Drug & Alcohol Content

One scene pictures Clive with a glass of hard liquor.

Other Noteworthy Elements

Elsa harbors a deep rebellious streak, in part because of her damaged relationship with her now-deceased mother. That personality trait is even more volatile when combined with her scientific genius and pride. Her relationship with Clive is clearly unhealthy, as she repeatedly goads him past his reservations about what they’re doing. (“Scientists push boundaries,” she argues.) Eventually, Clive learns that Elsa has used her own DNA to create Dren, a secret she had kept from him.

Despite her efforts to “parent” Dren differently than her mother did with her, Elsa often disciplines Dren extremely harshly.

The movie concludes on a particularly chilling note—one that could be construed as positive if properly extrapolated, but is clearly negative when looked at from the point of view of the story’s hero—Elsa. She’s pregnant with Dren’s hybrid genetic offspring and has apparently agreed to let the pharmaceutical company she’s worked for have the baby. “You can never speak of this to anyone,” a representative for the company says. “Ever.” The woman praises Elsa for her willingness to take things to the “next level.” Elsa wearily asks, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

It’s the same question she asked before beginning the experiment that created Dren.

As for the pharmaceutical company, the organization isn’t motivated by humanitarian kindness. Instead, it’s all about capitalizing financially on Elsa and Clive’s biogenetic discoveries.

Splice is both obscenely and profoundly provocative as it shows us two deeply flawed people pursuing something like Promethean fire … with similar results. For me—as well as a colleague who saw the film with me—the message here is crystal clear: Don’t play God.

Surprisingly, that’s not exactly the way director Vincenzo Natali sees things. “I don’t feel Splice makes a clear statement about whether the actions of Clive and Elsa are good or bad. Their mistakes in creating Dren are mostly well-intentioned,” he says in the movie’s production notes. “Clive and Elsa are smarter than they are wise, and while they play with the building blocks of life, they don’t really have any deep understanding of what life is. … [And so] Dren becomes a catalyst for their own darker needs.”

“Unlike Frankenstein ,” Natali continues, “I never perceived this film as making a statement about dangerous ground. … On the surface, the message is about what happens when you play with genetics. But at a deeper level, it’s about being responsible for the things you make.”

If we’re going to talk thoughtfully about being responsible for the things we make, however, similar questions need to be asked about Natali’s filmmaking choices. Like Mary Shelley’s famous monster story, Splice grapples with the question of what it means to be human. “We watch the humans turn into monsters,” Natali tells us, “as the monster reveals its humanity.” But the images viewers are subjected to are nothing short of monstrous themselves.

It’s hard to even know how to categorize Clive’s graphic sexual coupling with Dren, for example. At the very least, it’s fornication and infidelity. But it might also qualify as something close to bestiality. And perhaps closer to incest, given Clive’s heretofore father-like relationship with the female creature. And then Dren swaps genders and rapes his other creator, impregnating her with … something .

“Vincenzo has a savage imagination,” says the film’s executive producer Guillermo del Toro (who should know what he’s talking about since he’s helmed Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth) . “ Splice is incredibly powerful and morally ambiguous. Both the creators and the creature are flawed. At stages the creature is innocent, then malevolent; the scientists are empathetic, then ruthless. In so many ways this story crosses the line.”

It’s as if del Toro and Natali are content to ask, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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Common Sense Media Review

Intense, twisted monster movie explores DNA experimentation.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 17+?

We hear "f--k" and variations on the word at least eight times, and "s--t" a few

The main characters, Clive and Elsa, flirt and kiss. They have sex without much

Intense moments of terror and shocking behavior, without much blood or gore. We

Any Positive Content?

The movie's main message goes all the way back to Frankenstein and other creatur

Clive and Elsa are scientists, and they're really smart, but not great role mode

We hear "f--k" and variations on the word at least eight times, and "s--t" a few times. Additionally, there is "damn," "God" (as an exclamation), "Goddammit," "Jesus," and "retard."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The main characters, Clive and Elsa, flirt and kiss. They have sex without much nudity and discuss the idea of having a baby together. (The film doesn't mention it, but they do not appear to be married.) The movie grows far more twisted when Clive begins to develop feelings for the adult Dren, who is like their surrogate child. He eventually has sex with her (bringing up all kinds of weird moral and Freudian ideas). In one scene, we see adult Dren naked, though she's really only partly human. Finally there is a quasi-rape scene as a male creature attacks Elsa.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Intense moments of terror and shocking behavior, without much blood or gore. We see disturbing imagery in a laboratory, with odd creatures forming and moving around. A creature breaks free and hides in the lab, threatening to jump out and attack. Characters try to decide whether or not to kill the creature, and one character makes an attempt. A creature eats a raw, bloody rabbit that she has killed. Additionally, characters argue quite often, and the creatures sometimes make disturbing screeching noises.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The movie's main message goes all the way back to Frankenstein and other creature features: Don't mess with Mother Nature. The movie struggles with a plethora of moral and ethical issues, and the characters seem to know that they have stepped wrong, but have no idea how to correct it until it's too late. Likewise, the characters keep secrets and seem to grow apart, working against one another.

Positive Role Models

Clive and Elsa are scientists, and they're really smart, but not great role models. They're arrogant and a bit reckless, and their attempts to create an unnatural, man-made life form result in untold mayhem, as well as many troubling moral and ethical issues. Likewise, there comes a point at which Clive and Elsa can no longer trust anyone around them, and they begin to distrust one another as well.

Parents need to know that Splice is a monster movie that's not particularly bloody or gory but has many intense, shocking situations that have the potential to deeply disturb sensitive viewers. On top of this, the movie also involves some thorny sexual situations (between human and quasi-human) and lots of foul language, including multiple uses of "f--k" and "s--t." The movie raises several complex ethical and moral questions around the creation of life and the meaning of family that has the potential to intrigue and/or offend. Either way, it's a real conversation-starter. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 6 parent reviews

Not For Feint Of Heart

What's the story.

On the verge of losing control of their laboratory under a tangle of red tape, two rebellious scientists, the romantically-involved Elsa ( Sarah Polley ) and Clive ( Adrien Brody ) impulsively decide to experiment with crossing animal and human DNA. The result of their experiment matures frighteningly fast, eventually appearing as the weirdly pretty adult female creature known as "Dren" ( Delphine Chanéac ). Unfortunately, since Elsa and Clive have crossed many legal and ethical lines, they must keep Dren a secret. But their emotional involvement with the creature -- and with each other -- may prevent them from understanding what Dren really is: a potentially deadly monster.

Is It Any Good?

This movie is messed up ! Directed and co-written by Vincenzo Natali , Splice moves through familiar territory, giving nods to Frankenstein , E.T. , and Jurassic Park , but it touches on some seriously complex and twisted ideas, such as the meaning of family and the concept of creation. Nevertheless, it has a perfectly confident and nonchalant tone as it navigates these sticky issues; it's even ever so slightly comical. (Or perhaps the laughter is just a reaction to the movie's uncomfortable suggestions.)

The director balances everything pitch-perfectly, from the performances to the hair-raising sound effects, and all the way down to images of the creepy, snowy woods during the film's tense climax. It's a thoroughly satisfying movie for viewers looking for something with a bit more depth and wit than the average summer blockbuster. After the thrills have ended, brave viewers will find plenty of interesting themes and ideas to discuss, though more sensitive -- and younger -- viewers should approach with caution.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the way this movie dealt with the implications of creating a new life. What issues does it bring up? How is this movie different from or similar to other "creature features" like Frankenstein , etc.?

How does this movie compare to horror films filled with blood and gore? Was it more or less scary? How did the movie's violence make you feel? Was it disturbing? Were you frightened, or did it make you uncomfortable?

Movie Details

In theaters : June 4, 2010
On DVD or streaming : October 5, 2010
Cast : Adrien Brody , Delphine Chanéac , Sarah Polley
Director : Vincenzo Natali
Studio : Warner Bros.
Genre : Science Fiction
Run time : 104 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language
Last updated : August 16, 2024

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Splice Ending Explained: The Twisted Conclusion To Vincenzo Natali's Movie

Splice Dren faces down Elsa, as Clive observes

Warning: spoilers for Splice are in play. If you haven’t seen Vincenzo Natali’s twisted sci-fi thriller, head back out of this story if you don’t want the surprises to be ruined for you.

While it’s an 11-year-old movie at this point, director Vincenzo Natali’s Splice is a film that’s known for its rather twisted ending . People have loved to talk about the conclusion of this 2009 sci-fi thriller for some time, and the film’s recent inclusion on the Netflix streaming library has sparked those talks yet again. But believe it or not, this modern reinterpretation of Frankenstein has an ending that’s anchored in some deeper thought.

Rather than just deploying its twisted ending for funsies, Vincenzo Natali’s creation parable gives us all we need to know in a very sneaky manner, throughout the entire movie. Looking back at the clues provided throughout Splice , we’re going to take apart the shocking conclusion of the film, and put it all together to show the chilling picture it was setting the audience up for the whole time. Last chance to back out before spoilers, as we’re going to start with a recap to the ending of Splice .

Splice Male Dren on top of Elsa in the woods

What Happens At The End Of Splice

Clive Nicoli ( Adrien Brody ) and Elsa Kast ( Sarah Polley ) are confronted by Clive’s brother, Gavin (Brandon McGibbon,) as well as their boss, William Barlow (David Hewett.) The reason for this confrontation is the fact that they’ve been running an illegal experiment to synthesize a miracle protein that’d be the building block to untold genetic miracles. Unfortunately, that experiment has a name, and an attitude, and it’s presumed to have just died. The creature, aptly named Dren (Delphine Chanéac,) turns out to be very much alive, and starts to pick off each of these participants in a brand new form.

Previously known to be a female, Dren has now changed sex, and is a male with a newfound purpose: it wants to breed with Elsa. Killing Gavin and William, Dren pins Elsa to the ground and proceeds to rape her. After Clive dies trying to save his partner, Elsa kills Dren once and for all, and is eventually shown to be carrying its child in Splice’s epilogue. Rather than terminate the pregnancy, Elsa takes a healthy sum from her employer, Newstead Pharmaceuticals, to keep the child; as Dren’s DNA is rich in scientific wonders.

Why Is Splice’s Ending So Twisted

The ending to Splice is something that’s absolutely chilling to behold, as the sexual development of Dren goes from a consensual flirtation and consummation with Clive to the violation of Elsa, in a very short span of time. A sheltered being that’s partially human, Dren has a very limited viewpoint to the world; which is skewed by the fact that Elsa starts to maim, torture, and scold the child she fought so hard to keep alive. Things start to get uncomfortable when Dren and Clive have their tryst, but there’s a component that makes Dren and Elsa’s eventual fate all the more twisted.

Early on in Splice , we’re told that the human genetic profile used to make Dren’s hybrid species is from a “Jane Doe” with a clean medical history. It’s later revealed that it’s not just a random person’s DNA inside the resulting creature, it’s Elsa’s. She uses this fact to try and bond with her then daughter, as she tells Dren that part of her is inside Dren, and conversely part of her child is within her. Something that’s thrown back in her face when the male Dren tells Elsa that the one thing he wants is “inside…you.”

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Splice Fred and Ginger sit in their cage

The Clues Splice Provides That Anchor That Twist

Throughout the entirety of Splice , the experiment that’s supposed to put Clive and Elsa on the map is through a pair of vermiform creatures named Fred and Ginger. Through the creation of these two initially lovely creatures, the protein known as CD356 is generated for pharmaceutical usage and research. These creatures are also the other half of the hybrid structure for Dren’s DNA, which is combined with Elsa’s DNA to create the total package we see in the film.

However, as we learn through Fred and Ginger’s story progression, their pairing ends rather violently at a Newstead Pharmaceutical shareholder’s presentation. Surprise, life found a way to turn Ginger into a male, and our intrepid scientists didn’t see this. Meanwhile, Dren is described as having everything Fred and Ginger had, and more, reinforcing that she’s partially made from their DNA as well. So all the mistakes that Clive and Elsa made previously were only amplified by adding an unpredictable human element into the mix.

How Vincenzo Natali Prepared The World For Splice’s Ending Without Even Spoiling The Film

As if those clues weren’t enough to prepare the audience, Vincenzo Natali himself pretty much set the table way back in 2007, shortly before his long term passion project went into production. Describing Splice to the now defunct horror news site Shock Till You Drop , Natali gave the world all of the warning it needed when heading into this particular film:

Splice is very much about our genetic future and the way science is catching up with much of the fiction out there. [This] is a serious film and an emotional one. And there's sex... Very, very unconventional sex. The centerpiece of the movie is a creature which goes through a dramatic evolutionary process. The goal is to create something shocking but also very subtle and completely believable.

Without even dropping the meaty details of Dren’s evolution, and just hinting at the “unconventional sex” that Splice would hold in its core, Natali was able to provide everyone with enough preparation to decide if this film was or was not for them. Though even with fair warning, the conclusion is still a chilling thing to behold, especially when piecing together all the clues previously given.

The Ultimate Meaning Of Splice’s Twisted Conclusion

There’s a lot at work in Splice’s twisted conclusion. Above all else, there’s a Frankenstein -esque message of how just because we can create new and exciting lifeforms doesn’t mean we should. That’s only hammered home by the fact that Clive and Elsa are presumably named after Colin Clive and Elsa Lanchester, actors were both a part of Universal’s Frankenstein franchise. But the greater message that pops up in the film is that parenting is as much of an experiment with a hybrid organism child as it is with a regular human kid.

In creating Dren, Elsa felt that she could have a child and be in control of the result, as the unpredictability of parenting is what’s always made her reluctant to have a child. But in trying to avoid the mistakes of her own abusive past, Elsa only ended up making them again. Only this time, the resentful child took its vengeance out in a much more horrifying way. We may never know the consequences of Splice’s foreboding ending, but it’s almost assured that the future is going to lead to even more unpredictable results, as the child of Elsa and Dren seems destined to follow in their bloody footsteps.

The resurgence of Splice is bound to have people talking yet again about just why this infamous ending is a disturbing masterpiece of shock; and maybe even lead to a conversation about how the world lost out when Vincenzo Natali didn’t get to make his version of Swamp Thing. Looking at the details layered in the film’s story, Natali didn’t just surprise the audience without any rhyme or reason. This twisted conclusion has a basis in the events that took place prior to the fateful showdown at the family farm, and if Clive and Elsa were paying attention, they might have been able to prevent them from happening. But they didn’t, and the impressionable ending of Splice now sits for all to behold on Netflix’s streaming library.

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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Splice review

As Vincenzo Natali’s Splice arrives in the UK, Duncan finds a mainstream B-movie with shocks and laughs in almost equal measure…

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I always tend to make a habit of writing up a film review within twenty-four hours of watching it, mostly to retain the freshness of my emotional reaction to it, good or bad. So, it’s a fine testament to Splice that exactly a week after seeing it, the film has still managed to leave a solid imprint on my mind.

The reason being because Splice is insane.

So insane, that every screening I’ve been to since has been populated by people talking about it, as it seems to be proving quite divisive amongst the other writers I’ve spoken to. Some seem to be drawn to the more Freudian elements, others to its themes of relationships and childbirth. And as for me? Well, I thought it was one of the greatest attempts at making a mainstream B-movie I’ve ever seen.

Director Vincenzo Natali is probably best known to us geeks as the director of inspired low budget hit Cube and the criminally overlooked Cypher . What fascinated me about Splice was that Natali clearly shows an intelligent awareness of how ludicrous the whole premise of the film is, yet still manages to inject genuine moments of terror and pathos in amongst some great visual comedy.

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Rather than Species , I’d compare Splice to Hollow Man in terms of how the movie feels, without trying to be too descriptive and give anything away, as I’d avoided reading or watching anything to do with the film, and the pay off was immense.

Whether you liked Hollow Man or not, you should appreciate that it involved a fearsomely talented director, essentially, trying to make a studio movie with interesting results. Paul Verhoeven started the film with a visceral, gory punch, before taking the elements that interested him the most (never underestimate the man’s love of breasts, Verhoeven’s that is) and straining them through Hollywood’s cookie cutter to make his film conform to their monster movie conventions.

Splice treads a very similar path, as we follow the scientific journey that Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast (played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, respectively) take, as they pay no heed to the lesson learnt by Dr. Frankenstein in their quest to create new, genetically engineered life. The film is given an incredible strength from its premise, as the results of their work mean that any organism we’re shown in the film is entirely new and therefore, entirely unpredictable.

Many of the film’s shocks come from seeing what will develop next, and Natali holds an incredible feeling of unease and tension over the entire film, so much so that my usual note taking was kept to a bare minimum as I sat enthralled by it. I knew within the first five minutes that I was onboard with Splice , as it ably showed a great sense of comedy, mixed in with some suitably disgusting effects.

It came as no surprise to see Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger’s names in the opening credits, though I’m a little confused as to how they seem to be able to do the effects for about ninety percent of the films I watch. Since their Evil Dead days they really have become the kings of special effects, and their work is so good in Splice that they effectively sell the reality of the situation.

And by making Dren such a masterwork – a mix of the beautiful, innocent, deadly and ethereal – you don’t ever question what’s on screen.

At one point, my head started to spin at how realistic and aesthetically stunning some of their work is. If you don’t know what a Dren is, then I implore you not to go looking, especially not on IMDb, where I was mortified to see a spoiler of film-ruining potential. Quite how no one’s had it taken down is a mystery.

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While the KNB EFX group go to work, it remains for the emotional and comedic core of Splice to be divided between Brody and Polley. It was an incredibly savvy move, as both actors are known for effortlessly dealing with dramatic content, so between them they easily ground and realise the more preposterous parts of the story.

What came as a surprise was how readily they dealt with the humour of the film, most notably in an early scene which hammered home the B-movie roots of Splice , as a moment of over-the-top slapstick plays out when Polley’s character finds herself trapped in a lab room with ‘something’.

Adrian Brody is a notable actor and much more on the geek radar after the likes of King Kong and, more recently, Predators , whereas Sarah Polley, despite Go and the Dawn Of The Dead remake, still seems to be a massively underappreciated and underused actress in Hollywood. Hopefully, the controversial nature of Splice will bring her more attention, as she’s more than deserving of it.

The film isn’t without its flaws, though. There is an unoriginal element of corporate greed, of the usual ‘give us results, or we’re shutting you down’ variety, which I always associate with the likes of Carter Burke, but which even Splice couldn’t bring any freshness to, despite the incredible presentation it leads to later on. In fact, the entire third act is relatively weaker, losing some of its momentum and tension, especially when compared to the first two.

The closer the film draws to its finale, the more conventional it seems to become, falling into predictability, not once, but twice, after striving so hard to be the opposite.

There is one moment near the end that is incredibly disturbing and still makes me feel uneasy. It’s just a shame it happened amongst the weaker parts. The moment I refer to, as well as other parts of the last act, when things become more intimate and hostile, will prove to be talking points for a long time to come, I imagine, and it’s very difficult to write my way around them, but I can assure you that the fresher you are to the film, the more impactful it will be.

I’ll wait to hear what others make of it. No doubt, many will hate it, but Natali has earned even more of my respect for making, quite possibly, the funniest, twisted, darkest, and most crazy mainstream B-movie of recent times.

Our first Splice review is here .

Duncan Bowles | @duncanbowles

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Splice's Nature Vs. Nurture Debate: Did Dren Ever Have a Chance?

Vincenzo natali's splice pairs perfectly with this 1931 classic monster movie, why george lucas renamed the sith homeworld (& how star wars made its original name canon again).

The following contains mention of sexual assault that takes place in the film Splice .

Splice explores the dangers of unintended consequences, with a focus on human flaws causing attempts at scientific advancement to fail.
Dren's transformation serves as a reflection of the scientists' poor parenting and lack of moral restraint.
The open-ended ending leaves room for potential sequels, focusing on the ramifications of experiments taking on a life of their own and the consequences of human hubris in science.

Splice 's ending is a harrowing exploration of unintended consequences and how they can spiral out of control. Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac, 2009's Splice focuses on a pair of married scientists working on genetic manipulation. Their latest and potentially greatest creation is a human/animal hybrid, which the pair dub Dren. Initially raising the creation as their child, Splice 's central creature Dren quickly enters adolescence far earlier than Elsa or Clive could expect.

However, this is far from the only transformation that Dren is going through, as she increasingly exhibits new attributes and a lethal side. Splice was a horrifying sci-fi film that generated solid reviews but failed to match its budget at the box-office. However, the film's ending remains darkly memorable over a decade since the film premiered. The open-ended nature of the ending leaves plenty of questions for audiences to ponder where a potential Splice sequel could have gone, even as the film clearly plays with a classic theme of the genre.

Sarah Polley as Elsa and Delphine Chanéac as Dren in Splice looking into a mirror

It's worth considering if Splice's Dren could have had a normal life with the right care or if her killer instinct would always get the best of her.

Dren's Transformation In Splice Explained

Dren's transformation was teased earlier in the film.

Dren and Sarah Polley as Elsa looking in a crate in Splice

Dren's transformation in the third act of Splice may have been set up earlier in the film , but it still comes as a harrowing and horrifying turn for the film to make as it approaches the film's haunting ending. Splice 's creature Dren was initially biologically a female. Raised as something of a "child" of the two scientists who created her, Dren seemingly died due to internal instability and the external abuse of her creators. In reality, Dren was going through a physical transformation from female to male.

This "death" was similar to how their test creature Ginger had biologically shifted from female to male, due to a major shift in the animals' hormones. The two entities shared a hodgepodge of DNA from various animals, teasing how Dren eventually go through the same change. In both cases, the newly male creature perceives others as potential threats and quickly goes on the offensive. For Ginger and Fred, the damage was just to them and the reputations of Clive and Elsa. In Dren's case though, their larger body and more dangerous attributes mean that there is far more collateral damage.

How Dren's Rampage In Splice Reinforces The Movie's Core Message

The dangers of untamed science becomes brutally clear in splice 's ending.

One of the core themes of Splice is the dangers of science when unrestrained by questions of morality. Following in the footsteps of other classic sci-fi horrors like Frankenstein , Splice is focused on how human flaws cause attempts to scientifically attain perfection inherently impossible , often to disastrous results. In Splice , that comes in the form of Dren's final form, with the initially female Dren evolving into a more dangerous male form. This is only amplified by the abuses and failures of Elsa and Clive as parents, turning Dren from a creature into a monster.

Lashing out at Clive and Elsa, Dren ends up killing the former (as well as their employer William Barlow and Clive's brother Gavin). The male Dren then assaults Elsa, after which Elsa is able to surprise and kill Dren. Since the beginning of Splice , the moral quandaries inherent to the film's plot were presented to Elsa and Clive as reasons to be cautious with their ambitions. However, their decisions to ignore these warnings (and ultimately their own flaws) helped create Dren in the first place, as well as the circumstances by which Dren could become a threat.

Elsa's Tragic Fate Explained

Elsa may survive splice , but has a far more harrowing life.

The ending of Splice sees Elsa dealing with the secretive aftermath of her actions. Technically, Elsa and Clive's initial pursuit of new proteins and chemicals through biological experimentation was a success. Dren's body is discovered to possess a number of unique and potentially world-changing scientific advancements. Barlow's business partner Joan Chorot helps cover up the events of Dren's rampage and her company retains the patents on them. Elsa also remains in Chorot's employ , as it turns out she was impregnated during the assault and intends to help Chorot carry their experiments to the "next level" despite the danger it poses.

Elsa's fate after Splice is a tragic consequence of her own actions. Her commitment to science may be pushed further than ever, but they've come at the cost of her husband and Dren. Elsa had come to see Dren as her child, and it was only through Elsa's brutal treatment of her that Dren became so vicious. Elsa's final words in the film are to brush aside concerns about carrying Dren's child with a dismissive "what's the worst that could happen," repeating a phrase she uttered before her doomed experiments began that implies she is doomed to repeat her mistakes .

Splice is a terrifying sci-fi film about the dangerous potential of unrestrained ambition, making it a modern answer to a horror classic.

How Splice's Ending Sets Up Potential Sequels

An expansion on splice 's world could introduce dren's offspring.

The ending of Splice is open-ended enough to leave plenty of room for expansion into a sequel. Splice ends with Elsa and Chorot looking ahead to the future scientific possibilities brought to life by Dren. A prospective sequel could see Chorlot's company expanding on the unique properties discovered in Dren's body . They could try to replicate the initial creation of Dren under more controlled circumstances, which could highlight the inevitability of man's hubris in the world of science. Advances in technology and over the last fifteen years could introduce new ways to build on Dren's genetics, creating something new.

The most obvious direction for a sequel would be to focus on Elsa and her child. Elsa could try to avoid the mistakes she made with Dren, with a possible narrative focusing on her attempts to improve the experiment in the second attempt. Over a decade has passed since Splice , making for a realistic amount of time to pass for the child to grow into adolescence naturally. A sequel focusing on this child as they grow could be a compelling exploration of the ramifications of experiments taking on a life of their own, and is a thematically fertile subject matter.

The Real Meaning Of Splice's Ending

How splice explores very human flaws in a heavy sci-fi story.

Splice 's ending plays into the film's underlying themes about the dangers of consequences , both when one is messing with the fundamental building blocks of life or trying to raise a new one as a parent. Elsa and Clive were negligent as both scientists and parents, with Elsa being outright abusive towards Dren at times. Perhaps Dren, Fred, and Ginger could have survived their transformations without becoming monsters if the pair had been more attentive. However, their own personal hang-ups and brewing drama led them to ignore their creations.

This is a very relatable human failing, and one that can cause disastrous consequences. In Splice , those consequences happen to be several bodies and a new species growing within the film's sole remaining protagonist. While the scientific potential is there within the world of Splice to do amazing things, humans find a way to infect those advances with their own problems . No matter how far people can go, they're still people — meaning their flaws prevent anything from going necessarily perfectly. It's a classic sci-fi horror theme, and one that Splice brings to vivid (and terrifying) light.

Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Splice stars Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley as a young scientist couple who, after introducing human DNA into their work with genetic splicing, create a human-animal hybrid being called Dren, who becomes like the couple's child. Initially positive that they can raise Dren as their daughter, the couple soon finds out that Dren's nature is far more sinister than it seems.

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Jun 5, 2010
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Splice Reviews

Gets points for being bizarre and incorporating evocative body-horror elements, though the story itself doesn't offer up anything substantial.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 22, 2023

In concept alone, not to mention the first exciting half-hour, the film promises greatness before failing to live up to those promises with a second half that feels emotionally disengaged and a finale that’s rushed.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 18, 2023

Splice invents new nightmares with Dren. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jul 19, 2022

It takes the goalposts of a made-for-SyFy movie and goes so far with them that we as viewers are left in awe.

Full Review | Sep 10, 2021

The big showdown, when it comes, is a disappointment. But on reflection, that's probably because the determination to get there overshadows the moral ambiguity of human decisions which is, as in life, where the real horror lies.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 19, 2021

Nothing can quite prepare you for the last 15 minutes of this movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 9, 2021

It takes a deeply debated subject and treats it with the utmost seriousness for the first half-hour, then slowly digresses into an often uncomfortably bizarre monster movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Nov 30, 2020

A film that detours from potential greatness for the sake of a few dark laughs and modestly chilling thrills.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4.0 | Sep 24, 2020

Brody and Polley both bring a seriousness of purpose to their portrayal...their authenticity lends an air of substance to what might have been just another risible creature feature in the hands of lesser actors...

Full Review | Mar 5, 2020

Bottom line: Splice asks you to suspend your disbelief to the extreme, but if you can, it's a whole lot of fun.

Full Review | Mar 8, 2019

Natali's Splice is an engaging, disquieting and most of all thought-provoking film that asks complex questions about the nature of parenthood, the ethics of medical science and what it is to be human.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 5, 2018

Where the movie succeeds - and I think it does succeed, overwhelmingly - is in drawing you into an emotional relationship with its characters.

Full Review | May 23, 2018

[Director Natali] treads the fine line of a film that is just believable enough to get the audience's attention, and sci-fi enough for us to think this could never happen. Or could it?

Full Review | May 18, 2018

Despite the conventional plot it's always fun, even when the action gets increasingly absurd.

Full Review | May 14, 2018

Though Splice has viscera a-plenty, the horror of it isn't in the gore. It's in the notion that sometimes children end up evil and it might be entirely our fault.

Full Review | Aug 9, 2017

A grisly and raw cautionary tale on the dangers of science without regard to consequences.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 18, 2014

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Movie Review: Splice (2009)

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Frankenstein author Mary Shelley could not have foretold that her gothic tale of an errant scientist who creates a man/monster out of the limbs of dead bodies would become a harbinger of things to come with the emergence in the 21st century of the science of genetic engineering. Instead of stitching together body parts, today’s scientists directly manipulate the DNA of organisms. Their work has given the world genetically altered vegetables; “designer” hypoallergenic cats and dogs; super cows; and most famously, the world’s first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep

Vincenzo Natali’s film Splice takes us into the world of genetic engineering but not in the manner one might expect of your typical science fiction feature. Instead of presenting a thought-provoking, cautionary tale about the evils of meddling in God’s territory, Natalie opts for a singular approach that moves the story away from science fiction and into the realm of a dark and disturbing fairytale. I applaud him for taking the risk. The story does cast a spell over you; unfortunately, you won’t remain enchanted for very long.

Fresh from their success in creating a new hybrid organism from the splicing of the DNA of various animals, biochemists Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) are eager to continue their groundbreaking experiments. However, the pharmaceutical big wig paying the bills (Joan Chorot) is less interested in funding more research and development than she is in making the couples’ discovery turn a profit, so the company cuts off their funding to go forward with production.

On the personal side, Clive thinks it’s time he and Elsa become parents. Elsa’s not ready to be a mother. She thinks they have more pressing concerns — namely, creating a new hybrid by introducing human DNA into the mix — financial, ethical and legal prohibitions notwithstanding. Clive is reluctant, but Elsa refuses to be stopped. Her determination suggests hidden disturbances are driving her that even she may be unconscious of.

The couple proceeds in secret with their experiment, and their efforts produce “Dren” (nerd spelled backwards), a creature that resembles a cross between a seal and a chicken. Clive and Elsa go from objective scientists to doting parents.

Ironically, with Dren Elsa eagerly embraces the part of mother, a role she previously claimed she didn’t want. When Dren’s rapid development makes it impossible to keep her concealed at the lab, Elsa and Clive move her to Elsa’s old family farm in the woods. There, the three of them settle down to play happy family.

Splice operates like an extended metaphor for Freudian family dynamics, specifically, the drama of mother/daughter competition, and father/daughter incest. The gigantic birth chamber in which Dren was conceived is analogous to Elsa’s womb. Metaphorically, it takes on the job of surrogate mother for the developing egg, a job Elsa doesn’t want literally. The whole process becomes even more psychologically complicated when the source of the human DNA is revealed.

As Dren develops into a beautiful mythological-like creature that has fish gills and can sprouts wings, trouble arises in happy-family land. What was once a cute and easily controlled child has become an individual with a mind and will of her own. Dren, the daughter, has become competition for Elsa, the mother, and temptation for Clive, the father.

The graphic sex scene between Clive and the adult Dren (Delphine Chanéac) elicited different responses from the audience at the screening I attended. Some viewers were clearly put off by it. The fan boys loved it. Others, including myself, just laughed out loud.

The scene I found most disturbing concerns the manner in which Elsa chooses to remedy Dren’s sexual transgression. Or perhaps I should say punish. She straps Dren onto a table, exposes her body needlessly, and then excises the stinger (which emerges during sex) from Dren’s tail with the cold precision of a detached surgeon. The procedure is nothing less than genital mutilation, made all the more horrific for all it was perpetrated against the daughter at the hands of her mother.

Splice is a fascinating Freudian nightmare that looks at the way in which childhood wounds can compel people to re-enact in the present the dysfunctional family drama of the past. Elsa, the child of an abusive mother, becomes in adulthood the abuser. However, for all of Natali’s ambition to deliver a story that straddles the elements of science-fiction thriller, psychological drama, and kinky fairy tale, his work doesn’t hold together. Too often I found myself laughing at events and dialog that were clearly not meant to be funny. The director couldn’t find a way to tie the underlying complex psycho/sexual themes together with the plot. Nor could he rise above the story’s goofier elements which eventually overshadowed the serious and compelling aspects of the story.

I've been a fanatical movie buff since I was a little girl, thanks to my parents who encouraged my brother and I to watch anything and everything we wanted, even the stuff deemed inappropriate for minors. I work, write, and reside in San Francisco the city where I was born and bred.

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Splice (2009) Review

Brainy canadian shocker.

Though marketed as a monster-baby movie in the It’s Alive mold, Splice is actually one of the most intriguing genre outings in quite some time. Co-written and directed by Cube auteur Vincenzo Natali, Splice is an unconventional movie that seems to change style and tone on a scene-by-scene basis.

The film is at once a monster romp, sci-fi thought experiment, terrifying parental allegory, and cautionary tale about genetic engineering. That’s a lot of balls to keep juggle at once, but fortunately Natali nimbly dips in and out of each seemingly disparate element with enough skill to turn Splice into a potential cult film in the making.

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as Clive and Elsa, a pair of implausibly attractive scientists, who have successfully spliced a variety of animal genes to create a disgusting little creature that looks like a slimy slug-brain rich with life-saving proteins. Their next step is to splice in human DNA but their investors suddenly back out. Clive and Elsa secretly create their human/animal hybrid, ending up with a strange little infant with a poisonous tail and kangaroo legs.

The couple initially planned to destroy their creation but Elsa becomes protective of the rapidly growing monster girl. Although childhood trauma keeps Elsa from wanting to become a mother, Dren gives Elsa the chance to rear a child within the comforting confines of a sterile laboratory. However, the surrogate parents slowly realize that life can’t be so easily contained, and the remainder of the film toggles between a cautionary tale of science run amok and a disturbing Freudian allegory for parental anxiety.

Though light on drippy gore, there are certainly enough shock sequences to please the horror hounds and enough subtext to win over viewers who don’t typically enjoy getting scared in the dark. The monster created by a mixture of practical effects, CGI, and actors is a remarkable technical creation. The fact that the creature has enough psychological complexity to win audience sympathy without losing its sense of movie-monster danger is undoubtedly what impressed Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) enough to attach his name to the project as an executive producer.

But despite all of the stylistic and technical tricks, Splice is ultimately a movie that succeeds on the depth of its themes and strength of its uncommonly good cast. Natali proved himself to be a intelligent director capable of audience mind-melting with Cube, but here finally has the budget and cast necessary to match his ideas. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are fantastic as the leads, while Delphine Chaneac is heartbreaking as Dren. Brody might sometimes be difficult to take seriously as an imposing action lead, but works perfectly as a weak-willed scientist. However, it’s Polley who steals the movie and ends up being more frightening than the monster as the questionable maternal instincts imposed on her by an abusive childhood begin to take over.

Though Splice is being released through Warner Brothers’ Dark Castle label, it’s actually an uncommonly high-budgeted Canadian film that’s been years in the making. It’s also one of the best movies to come out of Canada in a while, a brainy shocker that would make David Cronenberg proud.

Final Thoughts

Phil Brown is a film critic, comedy writer, and filmmaker who can be found haunting theaters and video stores throughout Toronto.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, CGMagazine may earn a commission. However, please know this does not impact our reviews or opinions in any way. See our ethics statement.

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Splice (Canada/France/United States, 2009)

The trailer for Splice might lead a viewer to expect a low-budget retread of Species crossed with Aliens . However, although the film does indeed pilfer a scene directly from the latter movie, the trailer misrepresents its source. Splice is as much a psychological thriller and drama about bio-ethics as it is a horror movie. Like the vastly superior The Fly , it uses gore sparingly; delivering shocks to the audience is a secondary consideration. Despite its relative bravery in choosing not to embrace the Grand Guignol, Splice is a little too hit-or-miss to truly work. There's a lot going on in the movie - some of which is rich, compelling material - but director Vincenzo Natali's scattershot approach to his subject matter leaves the viewer left with a frustrating sense that interesting paths were bypassed in service of a narrative that offers few surprises and concludes with a cornball, jarring sequence that belongs in another movie - perhaps the one being advertised by the aforementioned trailer.

The curtain rises on a small group of scientists feverishly working in a laboratory that seems decidedly behind-the-times technologically. They are led by Clive (Adrien Brody) and his girlfriend, Elsa (Sarah Polley), the masterminds behind a genetic splicing project that has pharmaceutical implications. Clive and Elsa have plans to go beyond the creation of a pair of slug-like creatures that have excited their corporate sponsors - they want to do things with human DNA. This possibility is quickly shot down by their boss (David Hewlett), but that doesn't stop the headstrong Elsa from moving ahead, followed meekly by Clive. Soon, using a high-tech womb, the scientists have given "birth" to Dren (Delphine Chaneac), a hybrid of human and various other creatures who walks on two legs (although they look more like the limbs of kangaroos than people), sprouts wings, breathes under water, and can communicate using Scrabble letters. She's also sexy and sexual, as Clive comes to learn when Dren develops a crush on him. The creature's final, most surprising ability is left undiscovered until the movie's final fifteen minutes when, unfortunately, the filmmakers decide to undermine their story by revealing it.

My best guess is that director Natali and his two co-writers intend for this to be as much a cautionary tale and a meditation on bio-ethics as they want it to be a cross-breed horror/science fiction tale. There are some problems, though. First, their approach is naïve in the extreme; they address questions that have been debated for decades in more enlightened forums. Most of the concepts they attack here are recycled. Issues of this sort have been discussed and debated as far back as when Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein . To an extent, Splice is all about man's hubris and how he copes when his abilities outstrip his morality. Basic questions bubble to the top. How deep does a creator's responsibility run to its creation? What does it mean to have sex with such a creation: incest, infidelity, or something otherwise creepy? If nothing else, Splice provides a unique take on the Elektra Complex.

The movie would work better if the characters came across as organic rather than appendages of a screenplay. There are numerous leaps of logic - instances when the protagonists act in a fashion that only movie characters would. Their cavalier attitude toward leaving Dren to her own devices is inexplicable. She is a unique creation - emotionally fragile with unknown physical limitations (not to mention how much money she could be worth to the right buyer) - yet they leave her alone in a barn. It's almost as if the movie is determined to italicize how incredibly stupid and inept these supposedly brilliant scientists are. They can create life but are unprepared to cope with the result of their creation. Maybe that's a metaphor for modern-day parenting, or maybe I'm reading too much into Natali's underwritten script.

The special effects that bring Dren to life are less than impressive. At best, she looks like something out of an R-rated episode of Star Trek . The breasts would seem to be the actress' own, but everything from the waist down is the product of CGI, and it shows. Based on her work here, it's impossible to assess Delphine Chaneac's aptitude in front of a camera. The same cannot be said of either Adrien Brody or Sarah Polley. Both actors have done exceptional work in the past (he won an Oscar; she has provided equally amazing performances, albeit in smaller productions); this is not their finest hour. One can only hope they were handsomely paid. They're not terrible, but they don't add anything to Splice beyond name recognition than that which could have been provided by a pair of unknowns.

Splice might have been more enjoyable as an unabashed B-movie. The production is watchable, but the experience of sitting through it offers equal parts frustration and satisfaction. It's easy enough to appreciate the movie for its differences while at the same time acknowledging that not all those differences work. Splice is ambitious, which is always preferable to the opposite, but it never delves deeply into the cavalcade of ideas it touches. Instead of taking a real chance, the finale devolves into a generic genre ending (although maybe this is intended to provide an origin story for the Jersey Devil). Splice isn't a disaster and it will probably fool a percentage of its audience into thinking it's saying something new or offering a previously unexplored narrative approach, but neither is the case. The movie contains the embryo of a worthwhile motion picture, but the full potential for development is never fulfilled.

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Film review: splice (2009).

The Black Saint 07/26/2011 Uncategorized

SYNOPSIS: Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named “Dren”, the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators – only to have that bond turn deadly. REVIEW:

Director Vincenzo Natali’s (Cube) new Sci-Fi/Horror opus “Splice” opens today & although the Saint has already seen it about a month ago (I have some dark connections people), I saved my review for today cuz’ I know you guys were waiting for it….

The film stars Adrian Brody (Fuck his Oscar..Dig that nose)!! & Sarah “Dawn Of The Dead” Polley as two scientists who also happen to be lovers who also happen to be named Elsa & Clive. If I gotta explain that to you creeps then stop reading this now! Did I mention they are genetic scientists? Sorry about that… They have completed what some thought was impossible, Created life.

A new kind of life mind you but life nevertheless. What they have created are 2 sentient “Blobs” of protoplasm that they name “Fred” & “Ginger” (I’m not explaining that one either people)! They are both very “Cronenbergian” in their look. Remember the giant maggot from the nightmare sequence in Cronenberg’s “The Fly”? Well then you have an idea of how they look. When they are introduced to each other, a sort of “Getting to know you” ritual takes place & it actually is quite beautiful to witness. At least as beautiful as these ugly suckers can get. But Clive & Elsa have convinced their corporate backers that they have made a breakthrough & are ready to display the creatures to interested investors…

I’m not going to spoil what happens at the big unveiling (The Saint believes that those who like to post “spoilers” in their reviews should be left with him for 15 delicious minutes of torture to shut em’ up) but I believe it’s safe to say it doesn’t go well for either duo. At this point in this review I should point out that I was not blown away by what was happening on screen but I was interested in what Natali’s next move would be & to me that is the mark of a good movie. Are you curious about what’s next? Great! That’s what movies of this genre should try to adhere to…Keep their audiences curious about what’s around the next corner.

Well, Suffice it to say that once we turn that corner Elsa decides that since the experiment is pretty much over, why can’t she try one last quick idea before the corporation closes down their shop? She injects human DNA into one of the extra eggs they had created but not fertilized yet. Clive is aghast at her actions but is reassured by Elsa that it will probably die immediately. Unfortunately like the Saint always says “You can’t trust a woman” cuz’ that little fertilized bitch not only doesn’t die but grows at an incredible rate. In a couple of days they find themselves with a full sized “Eggsack” that’s ready to hatch. And what comes out when it does? The Saint would call what I’m about to write a “Spoiler” but it’s been in all of the commercials already. What they get is a sort of combination of a Lizard, Frog, Bird, but most importantly..human creature.

I’m not going to say much more about the plot except to mention a few salient points. There are two “WTF” scenes in the movie that had the audience groaning in disgust & laughing at the same time, You’ll know what they are when they come up. The movie is not especially gory either but when it decides to ratchet up the blood quotient it does so nicely. And to be “frank” (betcha’ don’t get that one either huh?) I didn’t like the ending too much. I figured it out about halfway through as should any fan of this type of movie.

All that being said though, “Splice” is a really atmospheric sci-fi spookshow. There are those of you who saw the trailer & said “It’s Species”. I did as well, But although there are similarities this ain’t like no kind of “Species” you’ve ever seen believe that! “Splice” is far more intelligent & has something to say about how far man should go when he feels like playing God. I’m not preachin’ to y’all but God is God for a reason.

Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant & Doug Taylor’s screenplay from a story by Natali & Bryant is never boring. As I said earlier you think you’ve seen it before but that next corner is coming & you don’t know what’s waiting there….. All of the actors are great in their roles. Sarah Polley even got her teeth fixed for this one. That disappointed me a bit. I thought her fangs were sexy….And as fine an actor as Adrien Brody is & as great as he is in this movie, I couldn’t take my eyes off of his f*cking nose for more that 3 seconds at a time. The f*cking thing is so big & his nostrils so wide…the movie could’ve been about his nose is what I’m getting at. OK? Special shout out must go to one Delphine Chaneac as “Dren”, the name the creature is given. She must be a magnificent lookin’ woman on her own cuz’ she ain’t all that bad lookin’ in the movie. The practical & CGI effects are seamlessly woven together to give her performance believability & it is a believable performance. She shines brightly all the way through the movie. I might be in love…lust anyway.

All in all you should all go see this movie, especially this opening weekend. Give it a big opening so Hollywood can give us more intelligent scares every once in a while. It would be a shame to have this movie get steamrolled by “Bigger” flicks this weekend (“Marmaduke”, I ain’t talking bout’ you). As a matter of fact now that I’ve had some time to dwell on it a little more, Maybe it’s not just a sci-fi/horror movie. Maybe you could say it’s about parenthood as well…..

Splice (2009)

Tags Adrien Brody Antoinette Terry Bryant Brandon McGibbon Delphine Chanéac Sarah Polley Simona Maicanescu Splice Vincenzo Natali

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'Argylle' Review: Henry Cavill Is Bryce Dallas Howard’s Weird Little Spy in Chaotic Romp

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The Big Picture

Matthew Vaughn cleverly preserved the mystery of Argylle by only showing the first 28 minutes in trailers, saving the best twists for moviegoers.
Bryce Dallas Howard shines as Elly Conway, an author caught in a deadly plot with spies, in this fun and surprisingly romantic spy romp.
Argylle may hint at a shared universe with The Kingsman franchise, providing the same stylish action and humor that Vaughn is known for.

Matthew Vaughn was smart to preserve the mystery of Argylle by convincing Universal to only share the first 28 minutes of the film in the trailers because the best twists, turns, and laughs were entirely saved for moviegoers. Argylle is very much a movie designed for those who gel with Vaughn’s unique style of storytelling . While it is— comparatively — on the lighter side of the bloody action we’ve come to expect (rest assured, no one goes into a meat grinder this time around) there is still plenty of head-stomping, knife-slinging, and fist-throwing this time around.

An introverted spy novelist is drawn into the activities of a sinister underground syndicate.

Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Elly Conway, the author of the titular Argylle series . She has all the pinnings of a sweet, wholesome, small-town cat lady who found fame by writing a best-selling spy series without actually knowing anything about the spy business. Except for the fact that her plots have come dangerously close to the truth—a truth that sets her on a perilous crash course with real-life spies and a deadly plot to kill her. Which is where Aidan ( Sam Rockwell ) comes into her life.

What Is 'Argylle' About?

Vaughn wastes little time dallying around with the preamble of Argylle . Those first twenty-eight minutes that were cut up for New York Comic Con exclusives, trailers, and TV spots pretty much set the scene for the first act of the film. Elly goes from daydreaming scenarios for Agent Argylle ( Henry Cavill ) to fight his way out of straight into her own waking nightmare . Authors will get a kick out of the way Argylle pokes fun at the lot of us for having full-blown conversations with our muses as they reassure us or nag us about our bad plot points. The gimmick gives Cavill a lot to do with physical humor that he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to experiment with previously.

Howard and Rockwell are absolutely delightful together on screen as they dance their way through the chaotic spy romp that Vaughn has crafted around them . There is a natural ease and familiarity between them, right from the very start, that paves the way for the twists and turns that unfold in the latter acts. Vaughn never lied when he called Argylle his answer to Romancing the Stone —there is, indeed, romance to be found here. While the romance is very much a subplot of the film, it is more genuine than comparable spy romances found in the James Bond franchise (with the exception of Casino Royale , which can never be beaten).

Towards the mid-point of the final act, Argylle gives way to an epic fight sequence that puts new meaning to the saying “fighting is just like dancing,” complete with choreography and a killer soundtrack. It’s a scene that could only be thought up by a mind that has grown up with Eurovision . It may be one of the cheesiest scenes that Vaughn has conjured up yet . Then again, there was that goat scene in The King’s Man , and what do goats make? Cheese .

Was Agent Argylle the Friends We Made Along the Way?

If you were worried that Agent Argylle would turn into another Elly Conway situation, rest assured that you will walk out of Argylle knowing exactly who Agent Argylle is . Call me the Keeper of Secrets, but I don’t plan on revealing who the “real” Agent Argylle is in this review, and I implore you to go into the film entirely unspoiled. The truth is well worth the wait. What I can tell you is who Agent Argylle—the fictional character—is.

Agent Argylle (Cavill) is a suave and debonair spy with a terrible haircut that is eerily reminiscent of Ivan Drago. He works with a team of fellow spies, played by John Cena and Ariana DeBose , to take down an ominous organization that is eerily similar to the Division that is out to get Elly and Aidan in the real world. While the teasers for the film make it seem like Cavill’s Argylle is a major player in the film, he is more of a figment of Elly’s imagination for the better part of the film . He pops up in reflections or as Aidan whenever Elly is under tremendous amounts of stress and searching inward for what she needs to do.

While he is mostly relegated to Elly’s panicked hallucinations, Cavill’s Argylle fits neatly into the line-up of the larger-than-life agents that Vaughn’s mind has conjured up in The Kingsman universe . This leads us to another question that Argylle will inevitably provoke.

How Does 'Argylle' Compare to the 'Kingsman' Franchise?

Henry Cavill as Agent Argylle looking at a person offscreen in Aryglle

Well… can one truly compare Argylle as a separate entity to The Kingsman franchise once the credits roll? Once Elly and Aidan make the jump across the pond, Vaughn wastes no time showing off a Statesman-branded can of soda. This could just be an Easter egg for eagle-eyed fans like myself—but that isn’t necessarily the case .

Stylistically, Argylle feels like the cooler cousin of The Golden Circle —with the same amount of slow-motion call-outs, questionable CGI sequences, and delightfully corny humor . While there are no code names to be found in Argylle , it is quite obvious that Vaughn is building to something with a shared universe, and it’s exciting to see a director get to play with these madcap spy stories that no one else is doing presently. As the kids these days say: “Let him cook.” While there does appear to be some crossover between the two franchises, don't think too deeply about the fact that both universes feature Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella .

If you dislike the Kingsman universe, then Argylle may not be for you either . Vaughn remains steadfast in his belief that cinema should be fun sometimes, and this film is insanely fun. Whether you’re laughing at the crêpes jokes, snickering at the Cats & Dogs -level feline CGI, or snorting at the balls-to-the-wall figure skating sequence, you’re going to have a hell of a good time with Argylle . At its core, it's a light-hearted spy romp that riffs on a lot of the soap opera tropes that crossover into the realm of espionage. "Dumb fun" might get thrown around a lot with Vaughn's films, and it might be true, but Argylle does try to be smart in its execution. While some of the reveals might be easy to sleuth out for seasoned mystery pros, the gasps in the audience will make you wish you weren't so clever.

The rumors are true: Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle is the perfect date movie, even if the date is with yourself . Bryce Dallas Howard makes for an exceptional lead—which is no surprise, given how much of a scene stealer she was in the Jurassic World trilogy , but she’s up against tough competition here. Alfie ( Chip ) has his claws out, ready to tear his way through every scene he’s in.

New 'Argylle' movie poster showcases Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Bryan Cranston, Sofia Boutella, with Ariana DeBose and Catherine O’Hara and Samuel L. Jackson

Matthew Vaughn's Argylle is the perfect date movie with an exceptional Bryce Dallas Howard leading what proves to be a light-hearted spy romp.

Bryce Dallas Howard expertly balances the duality of the role.
Chip steals the show, even in CGI form.
Henry Cavill getting to be a charming weirdo is worth the 2-hour runtime.
The CGI really leaves something to be desired.
Act 2 drags a little, but even then it's still a lot of fun.

Argylle comes to theaters in the U.S. on February 2. GET TICKETS HERE

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Splice (2009)

COMMENTS

Somebody let the genome out of the bottle movie review (2010
The film, alas, stays resolutely concerned with human problems. The relationship. The corporation. The preordained climax. Another recent film, "Ricky," was about the French parents of a child who could fly. It also provided few insights into the child, but then Ricky was mentally as young as his age, and the ending was gratifyingly ambiguous.
Splice
Rated: 2/5 • Sep 22, 2023. In concept alone, not to mention the first exciting half-hour, the film promises greatness before failing to live up to those promises with a second half that feels ...
Movie review: 'Splice'
Movie review: 'Splice'. "Splice" is a hybrid that works. It's a smart, slickly paced, well-acted science-fiction cautionary tale-horror movie-psychological drama. In its mix are ethical ...
Splice (film)
Splice is a 2009 science fiction horror film directed by Vincenzo Natali and starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac.The story concerns experiments in genetic engineering being done by a young scientific couple, who attempt to introduce human DNA into their work of splicing animal genes resulting in the creation of a human-animal hybrid. [6]
Movie Reviews
Director: Vincenzo Natali. Genre: Science-Fiction Horror. Running Time: 100 minutes. Rated R for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language. With: Adrien ...
Sarah Polley Hatches a Bouncy Baby Lab Monster
Directed by Vincenzo Natali. Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi. R. 1h 44m. By Manohla Dargis. June 3, 2010. The two recognizable stars of "Splice," a pleasurably shivery, sometimes delightfully icky ...
Splice Review
Splice is a creepy, well-acted and memorable film – one that couldn't have been luckier to come out at a time when breakthroughs in genetic engineering and the creation of synthetic life ...
Splice Review
It doesn't go the complete distance, but this is a wholly admirable, refreshingly grown-up science-fiction movie: a Frankenstein with a beating, gene-spliced heart and top-of-the-range ...
Splice Reviews
The movie's premise may sound quite preposterous at first, yet Natali manages to craft his very own genre hybrid that cannot be labelled as one-dimensional or shallow. Splice effectively blends a sci-fi theme of cloning with observational drama and gruesome horror forming the movie quite reminiscent of David Cronenberg's early work.
Splice
Splice is both obscenely and profoundly provocative as it shows us two deeply flawed people pursuing something like Promethean fire … with similar results. For me—as well as a colleague who saw the film with me—the message here is crystal clear: Don't play God. Surprisingly, that's not exactly the way director Vincenzo Natali sees things.
Splice (2009)
Splice: Directed by Vincenzo Natali. With Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac, Brandon McGibbon. Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast hope to achieve fame by successfully splicing together the DNA of different animals to create new hybrid animals for medical use.
Splice Movie Review
Our review: Parents say (6 ): Kids say (17 ): This movie is messed up! Directed and co-written by Vincenzo Natali, Splice moves through familiar territory, giving nods to Frankenstein, E.T., and Jurassic Park, but it touches on some seriously complex and twisted ideas, such as the meaning of family and the concept of creation.
'Splice' Review
Screen Rant's Vic Holtreman reviews Splice. We first mentioned Splice way back in November 2007. Guillermo del Toro (Blade 2, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) was producing and Vincenzo Natali (director and co-writer of the cult classic Cube) was set to direct.It took a while to make it to the screen, premiered in Spain last November and had its real debut at Sundance this year.
Splice Ending Explained: The Twisted Conclusion To Vincenzo Natali's Movie
Throughout the entirety of Splice, the experiment that's supposed to put Clive and Elsa on the map is through a pair of vermiform creatures named Fred and Ginger. Through the creation of these ...
SPLICE Review
SPLICE Review. Splice is for mature audiences only. That note not only applies to the content of the film, but to its themes. It's a fun, entertaining movie but also one that's deceptive and will ...
Splice review
Reviews Splice review. As Vincenzo Natali's Splice arrives in the UK, Duncan finds a mainstream B-movie with shocks and laughs in almost equal measure…
Splice Ending Explained
Splice 's ending is a harrowing exploration of unintended consequences and how they can spiral out of control. Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac, 2009's Splice focuses on a pair of married scientists working on genetic manipulation. Their latest and potentially greatest creation is a human/animal hybrid, which the pair ...
Splice (2009)
Director Vincenzo Natali has shown with Cube and Cypher he has something to offer the horror/sci-fi splinters of film, but this is a mixed bag. A film of great ideas let down by overheating the plot for shock values, while the levity inserted into the play is misguided and damaging for dramatic worth. 6/10.
Splice
Natali's Splice is an engaging, disquieting and most of all thought-provoking film that asks complex questions about the nature of parenthood, the ethics of medical science and what it is to be human.
Movie Review: Splice (2009)
Nor could he rise above the story's goofier elements which eventually overshadowed the serious and compelling aspects of the story. Critical Movie Critic Rating: 2. Movie Review: The A-Team (2010) Movie Review: Boy (2010) Movie review of Splice (2009) by The Critical Movie Critics.
Splice (2009) Review
Review Score: 8. Though marketed as a monster-baby movie in the It's Alive mold, Splice is actually one of the most intriguing genre outings in quite some time. Co-written and directed by Cube ...
Splice
June 02, 2010. A movie review by James Berardinelli. The trailer for Splice might lead a viewer to expect a low-budget retread of Species crossed with Aliens. However, although the film does indeed pilfer a scene directly from the latter movie, the trailer misrepresents its source. Splice is as much a psychological thriller and drama about bio ...
Film Review: Splice (2009)
Film Review: Splice (2009) The Black Saint 07/26/2011 Uncategorized. SYNOPSIS: Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named "Dren", the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female ...
'Argylle' Review: Henry Cavill Is Bryce Dallas Howard's ...
Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Cavill, and Sam Rockwell dance through Matthew Vaughn's deliciously chaotic spy romp, Argylle. Read on for our review.

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