The film places itself in a not too distant future, a time that is more heavily practicing genetic engineering. Our protagonist is name Vincent, who was born at a time where more and more people were choosing to genetically modify the fetuses of their children to create 'ideal' children. They remove less than ideal tendencies, such as alcoholism or depression, and they also make more desired genes more prominent, such as desired height or muscle mass, behavioural practices. At one point the characters go to a musical show and the pianist has six fingers on both hands, which we can only assume were chosen by his parents before he was born. Vincent, being born on the turning point of this trend, is one of the last generations to have parents voluntarily choose to not modify their baby's DNA, and in fact choose to genetically modify his younger brother. As more and more 'ideal' people are being 'created', the people who were not genetically modified slowly become second class citizens. Because of his blood, Vincent was only able to get janitorial work, as no well paying or reputable company would employ a non-genetically modified person. The whole idea of an interview is replaced by a blood test to differentiate between the two kinds of people.
Maybe because of his blood, Vincent is obsessed with the idea of becoming an astronaut and traveling through space, and was since he was as a child. He studies hard, and steadily works hard to get into the company that dealt with this... but is only able to get in as a janitor. He seeks out a guy who, under the table, helps people like Vincent pass themselves off as genetically modified people by pairing them with a genetically modified person who underwent an accident or is in some way unable to work. The crippled person will give samples of blood and urine (which are tested almost daily in workplaces), and pieces of hair or skin that can be spread around a workstation, and in return, that person will be allowed to live with the non-modified person and receive a portion of their paycheck. Vincent it set up with a man named Jerome, and from that point on, becomes 'Jerome'. He applies to the company he wishes to work for, and gets in easily. Things seem to be going well for Jerome/ Vincent, until there's a murder at his work, and one of his hairs are found at the crime scene. The problem is that the hair registers as an invalid... aka non genetically modified person, and endless surprise DNA tests pop up all over, which endangers Vincent's secret identity. Worst of all, with this untimely murder, he is now selected to go to space, but will never get there if is secret is discovered.
This was a really great movie exploring both the mechanization of society and the idea of discrimination. The society is tailoring a new generation of people who are almost 'super people', with only the best qualities present in their genetics. It's like creating an army of robots, in that there is no chance left to their creation. They are intentionally selected to be smarter, faster, stronger, taller, etc. than generations that came before them, and indeed than they may have naturally turned out being. We can clearly see how this is beneficial to a workplace and how this can be seen as an ideal state by a society, so it follows then that we can understand why people who were not 'made' to be better, faster, etc. might be seen as and treated like second class citizens. Why would you want to hire or date someone not as smart, not as fast, not as amiable, when they could have someone better? Why would they even waste time asking the question when a simple blood test will determine if your genetics were 'improved' or not? There's also a Big Brother aspect to this world as well. Everyone's DNA is in a universal data base and the government/ law has complete access to it and people are literally created to meet a social standard. A sort of caste system arises, wherein people who were not manufactured to meet the social ideal are worth less as individuals. For people who do not deal with racism or sexism or class-ism or ageism on a daily basis, this film provides an example of what living with that constant and completely bigoted and illogical injustice is like.
The interesting thing that the film does to provide a sort of counterbalance to that idea is to make Jerome, the man Vincent is pretending to be, unable to use his legs, and so even though he is this super person, is still limited to the flesh and is dependent. On the other hand, Vincent, who is a lesser being, is able to easily pass off as a person who was made to be 'ideal'. This suggests that he is mentally the same or better than some of the people he's working with, and the largest distinction between the two kinds of people is the general perception of their class.
This was an interesting film, and the acting was spot on. Jude Law, Uma Thurman, and Ethan Hawke all perform really well, and the plot keeps you guessing. It's worth the watch.
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