Species #2

Elsa (Sarah Polley) and Clive (Adrien Brody) are two brilliant genetic engineers who have created a mutant animal – product of a Splice between the DNA of two animals. Rather than being sequestered into mundane research and protein extraction from the said animal, as is the diktat of their firm, the two scientists – who are also in a relationship – go for the kill – trying to generate the product of spliced human DNA. They succeed, but the product – which carries Elsa’s DNA – is not quite what they had envisaged. Dren (Delphine Chaneac) – the product - is a highly intelligent semi-human creature, that is amphibious and carries a toxic sting. Dren evokes maternal love from Elsa, and, given her genetic antecedents, a very different kind of love from Clive, even as the two scientists struggle to conceal the results of their experiment from their company and the world at large. Eventually Dren metamorphoses into something else altogether – and the same has tragic consequences for the couple, but is an extremely profitable outcome for their company. Yet another horror story of mutation gone wrong, and not a particularly well-made story, at that

12/20