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Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac, David Hewlett, Brandon McGibbon ... see more see more... , Simona Maicanescu , Abigail Chu

Celebrated genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) conduct a clandestine experiment to create an animal/human hybrid that could revolutionize modern medicine -- if it doesn't de... read more read more...stroy humanity first. On the heels of engineering an entirely new species of animal, Clive and Elsa become the toast of the scientific community. Their experiment begins to spiral out of control, however, when the superstar scientists introduce human DNA into the equation. When Dren is born, Clive and Elsa welcome her into the world as the next leap in human evolution. Now, the faster Dren evolves, the more her creators start to realize they may have made a catastrophic mistake. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

37% liked it

244,934 ratings

Critics

74% liked it

179 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Vincenzo Natali

Release Date: June 4, 2010

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DVD Release Date: October 5, 2010

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Stats: 8,745 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (8,745)

  • fb1710827246
    March 29, 2012
    fb1710827246
    Disturbingly good. I remember the sick feeling watching the film through, it is sick, but something keeps your attention still, however disturbing. I don't know if I want to watch it again, then again I want to.
  • cosmo313
    March 7, 2012
    cosmo313
    Mixing together bits of Species, with the films of both David Cronenberg and James Whale, this is Vincenzo Natali's fun little sci-fi thriller variation on the "playing God with science" theme. The story concerns a duo of scientists named Elsa and Clive who splice together strand... read mores of DNA from various creatures in order to make hybrids creations that might hopefully prove beneficial to mankind.

    Everything gets out of hand when their latest experiment has some human DNA spliced in, something not previously tested. The result is a fascinating human/creature hybrid the pair name Dren whom they not only study, but try to treat as if she were their own kid.

    Despite not being entirely original, there's some really neat ideas and good stuff here, and, espeically with Elsa's character, there's some great character development and psychologicla exploration. Things are good, but I think they could have been better had the time been taking to really fully develop and explore Dren's psyche and what she thinks, feels, etc.

    Things start off well enough, but do start to decline as the film heads into typical horror territory. Thankfully though, this is just during the final 20 minutes or so. Even then, I think they could have done a lot more with the concept, which would have bumped up the score a bit more.

    All in all though, this is a fun and thought provoking little sci-fi creature feature. The effects are decent, as is the concept, but in neither case is there a lot of groundbreaking stuff going on. This is pretty competantly made, and never boring though, so that's cool.

    The acting's not bad, but nothing brilliant. Well, maybe just a little. Deplhine Chaneac is awesome as Dren, and it's cool that they got her to shave her head for the role. Plus, almost all of the performance relies on facial expressions, body language, and mannerisms, and doing this with (but especially without) words can be hard at times, so well done. Sarah Polley is good as Elsa, and Adrien Brody is fine as Clive, but they're both just passable and unfortunately not mroe.

    So yeah, overall, I do give this a mild recommendation, because it is neat. It's uneven and a slight mess, but thanks to a few WTF moments and some nice in jokes and references, I think there's enough good stuff here to warrant a mild passing grade. Straight B.
  • aquateen2
    December 23, 2011
    aquateen2
    I'll admit Splice is not for everyone, but I think thats because pure horror fans just cant stand the moral values this movie touches upon. The genius basic set up is: sci fi's, horror's, thriller's and of course; drama's taken to the next level. Without a doubt, Vincenzo's best ... read morefilm. It's much smarter than your average horror movie and it succeeds in trying to be something different. It maintains a brutally dark and chilling atmosphere and combines or ("splices") the codes of what you'd expect from it's genre with staggering heartwrenching drama and even a bit of innocence wonderfully inspired by Frankenstein. Which is a similar parent and child story that's now considered a horror classic.
  • fb619846742
    December 2, 2011
    fb619846742
    A hardcore, gross science fiction tale concerning a married couple of scientists (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) who run a secret operation of splicing human DNA with animal DNA, and create a monster they name Dren (Delphine Chaneac) who they begin to see as the child they both d... read moreesire to have together. Natali is a talented director ("Cube", a little seen indie-gem, proved this), but here he gets a bigger budget and better, capable actors to bring his project to life. The results are an engrossing scientific debate concerning the aspects of cloning and what is "human", as well as a solid satire on the nature of parenting. It is due to both Brody and Polley that this movie excels in being so well done, as their performances help us believe in the importance of a subject like this. It does go off the rails a bit in the last 10-15 minutes, but that does not keep it from being a good, Cronenberg-esque exercise in the grotesque and disturbing nature of experiments gone wrong.
  • blkbomb
    November 28, 2011
    blkbomb
    Clive Nicoli: Why the fuck did you make her in the first place? Huh? For the betterment of mankind? You never wanted a normal child because you were afraid of losing control. 

    "She's Not Human... Not Entirely."

    I had heard both good and bad things about Splice, so I really didn... read more't know what to expect. With movies like this, there is a line between what would make it great and what would make it horrible. It crossed the line to horrible many times, but also managed to not be nearly as bad as it could have been.

    Two scientists use human DNA to create a hybrid creature. The creature lives through the pregnancy, which the two didn't believe it would. Then they see that the creature is growing rapidly, so they decide to let it live and see what happens. Now I know what you're thinking; these types of experiments always go well, but you're in for a shock because this one doesn't. The woman then takes a liking to the creature and has a weird mother/pet owner relationship with it. You can never really tell how the man feels about it. The two are forced to hide the creature from the world because what they did was illegal.

    The film has some extremely awkward and weird scenes. It also features two of the most odd sex scenes you will ever see. Also, Brody's character has am extremely weird scene where he teaches the creature to dance. The weirdness of the movie isn't what made me dislike it though. What made me dislike it was how it was put together.

    Sarah Polley was deplorable in her role. God, I can't describe how bad her performance truly was. Brody was okay, not his best, but a movie like this doesn't really bring out the best in an actors performance. Then Polley was also forced to utter some ridiculous and just plain awful dialogue. The movie still manages to be interesting and it had me watching the whole time. It's just an interesting bad movie and when it comes to bad movies, those are the best kind.
  • bbcfloridabound
    October 29, 2011
    bbcfloridabound
    Once you get past all the DNA and scientific stuff (first 45 Min), it turns out to be a ok movie. nothing special, but worth a red box rental. 3 stars.
  • SirPant
    October 26, 2011
    SirPant
    A very creepy film. It reminded me of early Cronenberg with a bit of James Whale thrown in for good measure. It's not just a modern Frankenstein film though, it does raise some serious moral questions, sometimes quite uncomfortably so. Apart from the moral question, it also asks ... read moresociological questions on parenthood. it's fair to say that if you're a fan of dumb horror, this isn't for you. Vincenzo Natali could be the next 'Brothers Grimm', I said for a long time someone should give him a bigger budget and I believe I was justified. A brilliant modern sci-fi fable - how many films have you seen that can boast that? Recommended.
  • paulsandberg
    September 29, 2011
    paulsandberg
    In spite of some awesome CGI and earnest lead performances that tried to make this film a serious bit of contemplative "what if" this film just couldn't help but fall into conventional horror film hokum.

    For all that the script tried valiantly to explain the scientist's motiva... read moretions - which worked very well for the first half of the film - the film still fell into the big "aha" stupid tag ending trap that you could see coming from 1,000 miles away - arrgh! why does Hollywood insist on wrapping up everything with a nice shiny bow? It's shlock and has no purpose unless the studio was thinking sequel.

    Underneath the horror angle of the test tube creation, there is a strong tale of want and desire, where, without any moral conscience those needs are acted upon regardless of cause and effect - to the detriment of all concerned - and we're not just talking about the creation either - the female scientist has her own interest in the survival of her creation, as it has been infused with her own DNA.

    The film is actually pretty good as a shock type horror film (of course the genre per force lowers the bar pretty low) - but it attempted to be something more and by doing so became less. In the end, in spite of the creative motivation for keeping the creature alive (see above paragraph) - it still all came off a bit pat - and I suppose that the real motivation should have sufficed: the scientists, like me, were curious concerning what would happen as the creature matured. That should have been enough; there was no need for the female scientist to keep flipping back and forth between concerned parent and detached scientist - it played false and once again served no purpose other than to expose the fact that the director's vision was a cloudy one.
  • CreedsDelight
    September 17, 2011
    CreedsDelight
    One of the most disturbing film experiences in recent memory.
  • EightThirty
    September 16, 2011
    EightThirty
    28/05/2011 (DVD)

    A good night time flick. It's not boring but I did think it would be more entertaining. Anyhow it did turn out to have an interesting conclusion which you can work out before it happens.

    A bizarre, deviant liking of alien/mutant sexual nature puzzled me, shoul... read moredn't I be disgusted? I guess I wanted to see results like a supernatural baby, who knows? Maybe I just liked it.

    A watchable sci-fi that didn't bore me.

View All Splice Reviews

Critic Reviews

A.O. Scott
June 7, 2010
A.O. Scott, At the Movies

[It's] witty, aware of its own craziness, and disarmingly insightful about the psychology of its characters. Full Review

Rick Groen
June 4, 2010
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

A good horror flick always does metaphoric battle with our interior demons, and Splice summons them in impressive numbers. Full Review

Tom Long
June 4, 2010
Tom Long, Detroit News

Daring, disturbing and deliciously twisted. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
June 4, 2010
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

What makes Splice morally compelling isn't the bioethics quandaries it raises so much as the way it delves into parenthood. Full Review

Cary Darling
June 4, 2010
Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News

An engrossing, if flawed, techno thriller that never quite goes where expected, and that's what makes it such a pleasant surprise. Full Review

Kathleen Murphy
June 4, 2010
Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies

... mining horror out of moral quandary rather than mindless slaughter, Splice occasionally achieves a terrible beauty. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
June 4, 2010
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

A thoroughly repulsive science fiction-horror flick that slicks up its B-movie tawdriness with high-gloss production values and two otherwise classy stars. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
June 4, 2010
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Brody and Polley's performances keep the film grounded in a semblance of reality even when it threatens to go over the top near the end, and director Natali infuses the proceedings with a consistent s... Full Review

Joe Neumaier
June 4, 2010
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

It wants to tour the scarred human psyche, yet the cobbled-together screenplay is silly when it should be spooky, cold when it should boil over and dumb when it should be smart. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
June 3, 2010
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

However somber it gets, it's never truly thought-provoking, and however outrageous it gets, it's still always 20 minutes behind the audience. It's just too dumb to be serious and too slow to be entert... Full Review

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Facts

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    • Clive: Why the fuck did you make her in the first place? Huh? For the betterment of mankind? You never wanted a normal child because you were afraid of losing control.
    • Elsa: What do you want? What do you want?
    • Dren: Inside... you...
  • Science's newest miracle...is a mistake.
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Splice Trivia

  • What 1986 David Cronenberg movie sees a young scientist splice his genes with those of a housefly?  Answer »
  • What was the name of the lab in the Clamp Building in Gremlins 2: The New Batch  Answer »
  • Why did Tyler take a film perjectist's job in Fightclub?  Answer »
  • in the movie splice, whats the name given to the "creature" ?  Answer »
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