Rating: B
Dir: Will Howarth and Tom Mckeith
Star: Talia Zucker, Ashley Zukerman, Will Howarth
If I’d to describe this in one word, I would go with “unsettling”. Right from the start, it’s apparent that something is not quite right. Or, more probably, some thingS. Jack (Zukerman) and Layla (Zucker) may be husband and wife, but their relationship is not perfect. They work on a remote cattle ranch in the Australian outback. But their cows aren’t bred so much as… Grown. In vats. Yeah, there’s a new, experimental process that speed-runs the cloning process, allowing the production of full-grown animals in a short time. It could potentially cure world hunger. If only it could be perfected. For the process has issues, and the resulting creatures are flawed.
If you’ve seen enough movies of this kind, you are probably already mentally ticking off all the ways this scenario could go wrong for Jack and Layla. That number will probably increase when I tell you that Jack is engaged in some off the books research, which is coming along nicely in a vat at the back of their barn. You may well figure out the nature of this project before it is revealed. I know I did. Probably won’t make too much difference, since it’s not the specifics of the “wrongness” that matter here. It’s more about the ways science can be abused, by those who have reason to abandon their moral scruples. Or maybe, never had them in any real volume to begin with.
Because Jack is, under an unassuming exterior, quite the nasty piece of work. He has a plausible explanation for just about everything, as Layla finds out. Plausible does not equate to true, however, and it’s quickly clear trusting or believing him is not in her best interests. Jack is certainly willing to do whatever is necessary, to avoid being held accountable for his mad science, whose implications go beyond the boundaries of the farm. It makes for a small-scale (less than a handful of speaking parts, I think) yet intense thriller. One element stands out in particular: composer Helena Czajka’s score. This is not so much music, as rhythmic noise. It’s a great fit for the warped high-tech scenario, and does an excellent job of enhancing the atmosphere.
I do have a few criticisms. There are times where the story becomes a little contrived: why the couple’s son isn’t with them on the ranch is left somewhat vague. There’s also one supporting character whose purpose never justifies their existence – they seem to be there solely for their death, to prove how far Jack is willing to go. On occasion, the visual trickery needed for the plot is rather too obvious. Fortunately, the performances are very good: as Jack, Zukerman can go from appealing to scary in the blink of an eye. But Zucker’s performance is better still – excellent in ways I can’t detail, for spoiler reasons. She acts as the glue which holds the movie together, all the way to the final shot.
The film will be available on Digital Download from 15th September.