Splice

★★★★☆

Based on Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" with a modern sci-fi twist, comes Splice, the story of two whiz-kid scientists (named after the characters of the Frankenstein movies) Elsa and Clive, (Sarah Polley and Oscar winner Adrien Brody.) Elsa, who desperately wants a child, and Clive, illegally combine human DNA with DNA of other animals, thus creating a new species, who the name Dren, (Nerd spelt backwards, see what they did there?) who acts as a surrogate child for Elsa, but is seen by Clive as a mistake. When Dren's development goes rapidly out of control, they are forced to move her from their lab to a desolate farm, in which Dren runs havoc, killing rabbits and even people. Both Elsa and Clive come too soon realise that they have created a monster, but before they can destroy her, Dren bites the hands that feeds her. With startling good performances by the two leads, Splice is a very good film, and a deep one. The film divulges in the meaning of moral integrity, the boundary between right and wrong and most prominent, evolution. But most credit of this film should go to the actress playing Dren, yes that's right actress, even in a time of Avatars and the most advanced CGI the film world has ever seen, director Vincenzo Natali and producer Guillermo del Toro still decided to cast a real person to play the "monster" who winds up becoming the heart of the film, Dren is magnificently played by model-turned-actress Delphine Chaneac. Like many science fiction films the film lacks in its third act, with two very uncomfortable sex scenes. With Brody's big budget science fiction horror "Predators" out soon, Splice will soon be overlooked, but don't miss this, its a thought provoking film that really pushes the moral boundary's in your mind.