Movie Ratings That Actually Work    Become a Member

"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME

Splice | 2010 | R | - 8.8.6

Maverick DNA scientists (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) are researching cures for human diseases, and ignoring legal restrictions, they splice human and animal DNA to obtain an infant human/animal hybrid (Abigail Chu and Delphine Chanéac). The female baby grows into a winged human with a rabbit-like head, bird-like legs and a tail with a stinger. It bonds with the two scientists, but the situation deteriorates and become dangerous when she grows older. Also with Dave Hewlett, Brandon McGibbon and Simona Maicanescu. Directed by Vincenzo Natali. [1:44]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - A female human/animal hybrid (she has a human head and torso, bird-like legs and a long tale) and is nude in a barn: we see human breasts, nipples, abdomen, thighs and groin in a full frontal nude shot (there is no genital opening or body hair), a man enters, she opens wings from slits in her arms and back, embraces and kisses him, he pushes her back, they embrace and lie on the floor, he pulls his pants and underwear down several inches (we see the small of his back and part of his abdomen), they thrust and moan with the man on top, they flip to the female being on top, continue thrusting, moaning, and gasping as they kiss, and he caresses her chest and abdomen; they flip again, she moans and gasps loudly, her long pink tail extends up over the back of his head, a long stinger thrusts out into the air, and the scene ends.
 A female human-animal hybrid apparently transforms into a male, chases a woman, tackles her, holds her on the ground, whispers, "Inside you," and proceeds to rape her; the creature is nude, but nothing is seen while thrusting, and a man stops the attack by impaling the creature with a pole (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
 A man rubs a woman's thigh while they sit on a couch, they kiss several times and engage in intercourse, while apparently fully clothed; a female human/animal hybrid stares at the couple through a curtain from another room as they writhe, thrust, groan and gasp.
 A woman straps a female human/animal hybrid by the wrists and ankles to a table in a barn (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), with a pair of long scissors she cuts her dress and we see human chest, breasts, nipples, abdomen, thighs, and double knees (no genital features). A human/animal hybrid swims in tub of water while a surveillance camera shows her nude with full chest, breasts, nipples, buttocks and thighs (no genitals are visible).
 The heads of two synthetic blob-like creatures appear in the shape of penis heads, complete with a slit in each one. We briefly see a Leonardo Da Vinci drawing, which depicts a fully nude man (his bare chest, abdomen, legs and penis are evident).
 A female human/animal hybrid dances with a man, she begins to kiss him, he pushes her away and says no, he walks away and the creature looks sad.
 A female infant human/animal hybrid appears to have a human body, bird legs, and a scorpion-like tail; she is shown nude, growing quickly, until the age of 6 years, when she is dressed in a dress that reveals thighs, double knees, calves, and hand-feet, and during teen and adult phases she is shown wearing a low scoop neck dress that reveals moderate cleavage and bare thighs. A woman wears a tank top that shows cleavage, bare arms, and shoulders, and a low cut blouse with straps that reveals bare shoulders, arms, upper chest and cleavage. A decal on the side of a laboratory machine depicts a dancehall girl wearing a low-cut bodice that reveals significant cleavage, petticoats raised thigh-high above high-button shoes and bare legs and thighs.
 Two scenes depict a man and a woman in bed, fully dressed and talking. A man and a woman discuss pregnancy: she says she does not want to go through it, but she'll develop a method for a man to become pregnant and the man says it would ruin his figure.
 Two living male and female blob-like creatures seem to hold hands with long, leafy, purple tongues that seem to have fingers and a scientist says, "Love at first sight"; several days later the female changes into a male without explanation.
 When a nude female human/animal hybrid is shown, we see bare thighs that lead down to a double set of knees and in place of feet there is an additional pair of long-fingered hands with something like turkey feet as well. A woman is shown to be pregnant and it is unclear whether she was impregnated after being raped by a human-animal hybrid.

VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - A female human-animal hybrid apparently transforms into a male, chases a woman, the creature runs into a tree limb (we see a bloody spot on his/her head), tackles the woman, holds her on the ground, and proceeds to rape her; a man stops the attack by impaling the creature with a pole, the creature withdraws the pole (we see blood on the wound and the pole), impales the man with a tail stinger and is then struck on the head with a rock a couple of times (we see a bloody gash; please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details).
 At a conference, a glass divider between two purplish brown blobs in a large aquarium is lifted, the blobs roll toward each other, seem to sit up, open slits in the tops of their eyeless heads, extend curved talons, slash each other into bright red blood, the aquarium is toppled, the first three rows of spectators are showered in blood and we see the empty, bloody aquarium on its side.
 A human/animal hybrid runs into a field at night and when found she turns to show she is devouring an entire rabbit she has killed; she smiles through bloody teeth and we later see blood stains on her dress, face and hands. A woman presents a cat to a human/animal hybrid, she kills the cat with her poison tail stinger, the woman slaps the creature in the face, the creature flies toward the woman, knocking her on her back, steps through a door, and the woman strikes her unconscious with a shovel.
 A woman straps a human/animal hybrid by the wrists and ankles to a table, she cuts off her dress using scissors (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details), the creature cries, the woman stabs a hypothermic needle into the creature's forearm after stating into a voice recorder that the creature is out of control and needs a gland and stinger surgically removed, the creature gasps, the woman grasps a scalpel and cuts into the long tail of the creature (we see the slice and blood as the creature screams twice and many strips of bloody gauze lie on a nearby table, while the end of the tail is dark red, with blood seeping gauze).
 A human-animal hybrid flies toward a man, grabs him and we later see the man dead and in a tree (bloody wounds are visible). A dead body has bloody facial scratches.A female human/animal hybrid attacks a man by jumping on him and extending a stinger from her long tail, but does not get the chance to strike.
 A woman turns a brown and slimy blob-creature over to find that it looks open, red rimmed, gory and empty; she turns to see what looks like a large naked chicken baby with a rabbit head skittering on the floor, a man enters the room, the creature hisses at him like a cat, skitters, jumps, crashes into things, squeals and falls to the floor on its side, crying.
 A blob in an artificial womb grows too quickly, a woman puts her arm into the womb and it gets caught, she screams in pain, a man helps her extract her arm, and a bluish veined blob with a long stinger-tail splats out onto the floor, hissing and whipping its tail among a flood of clear amniotic fluid from the womb.
 After developing a high fever, coughing, and vomiting (off-screen, but we see a very thin, short line of blurry gray), a man puts a human/animal hybrid into a cold bath and holds her head under water; she becomes silent, lying on the bottom, her eyes open, and then breathes under water, still alive. A human/animal hybrid grows quickly and ages years in a day, slopping green gruel from a bowl, vomiting (we see a little of what looks like green pea soup on the creature's mouth and on one cheek), and burping. A woman convulses after being stung by a creature's stinger tail, and a man jabs a hypothermic needle into her thigh.
 Bluish blobs in a lab sit up and their heads are shaped like the heads of penises; a slit opens in the head of each one, a purple leafy tongue extends from each slit, and the creatures seem to hold hands with them. A blurry shot from out of what appears to be a womb looks up into the faces of three scientists; one man behind a mask unwraps what appears to be an infant -- it is a white and gray throbbing cocoon-like creature without features. A scientist implants a combination of DNA into a human egg cell in a machine (we see the needles injecting the cell in a microscopic view); she removes the egg and places it into an artificial womb, the egg grows quickly, and the vital signs flatline, but abruptly restart. Living light blue blobs are seen in plastic wraps in aquarium-style enclosures and incubators, many covered with clear or brown slime, several blood samples are taken from these creatures in close-up (hypothermic needles are filled with bright red blood) and scientists argue whether they should kill the blobs, or let them live, and how many new ones to create.
 Opening credits play over a background of veined membranes that appear mammalian. We see X-rays or fluoroscopes of moving animal skeletons and this scene is repeated in the film. Several scenes depict a laboratory in which scientists work with oddly colored liquids and body parts that may be human or not. Some coils of what looks like intestines in jars of formaldehyde sit on a lab shelf, back lit by a fluorescent bulb.
 A woman wears thick gauze on her hand and arm up to the elbow, with some dark blood showing through in one scene.
 At the end of a sex scene (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details) a human/animal hybrid extends her long tail up in the air over her human male partner's head and a long stinger thrusts out; a woman enters the room, stares and runs away, the man chases her, but she drives off in her car very erratically, squealing tires and sliding on ice and snow.
 A human/animal hybrid trashes her room because she is not allowed to go outside, throwing books and dishes, and upsetting a shelving unit full of crockery and glass beakers; she climbs a wall and breaks a skylight, running to the roof, a man and a woman follow her and she begins to fall backwards, but extends her arms to allow wings to thrust out of slits in her arms and rights herself.
 Several arguments occur between scientists in a lab that specializes in combining DNA to use in human treatments: A man and a woman argue about whether to kill a human/animal hybrid, a man and a woman argue over whether a human/animal hybrid is life or not, and a man and a woman in their apartment argue about a chimera, how they have mistreated it, and who's to blame for it.
 A woman suggests that her mother was mentally ill and abusive and we see her room as it was when she lived at home -- empty apart from a mattress on the floor, a tin cup and some wads of paper on the floor. A man is pulled into a pond and a woman watching begins to panic.
 A woman takes a cat away from a teen female human/animal hybrid, and she cries and begs with squeaks for the animal. A human-animal hybrid appears to be dying; a man and a woman grieve and we see a grave.

LANGUAGE 6 - About 15 F-words, 5 scatological terms, 9 instances of name-calling (fascist, monsters, maestro, idiot, sick, "real scientists," animals, nerd), 11 stereotypical references (women, mothers, children, marriage, scientists, corporations, life forms that are different), 3 religious profanities, 2 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - We see bottles of alcohol in a lab refrigerator and a man pours whiskey into a glass and drinks it.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Synthetic life, cloning, human/animal hybrids, human and animal rights, biomedical ethics, laws, risk-taking, danger, consequences, family, mental illness, fantasy.

MESSAGE - When one creates life, one is responsible for its welfare, not entitled to abuse it.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Know when new reviews are published
We will never sell or share your email address with anybody and you can unsubscribe at any time

You're all set! Please check your email for confirmation.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This