Director: Maurice Haeems
Writer: Maurice Haeems (Screenplay)
Starring: Henry Ian Cusick, Kathleen Quinlan, Erika Ervin, Jenna Harrison, Karishma Ahluwalia, Jennifer Gjulameti
Plot: A brilliant but disturbed scientist freezes his children alive, while he races to cure their deadly genetic disease by decoding the DNA of the immortal Turritopsis jellyfish.
Tagline – Do you want to live forever?
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Ambitious Sci-Fi Film
Story: Chimera starts as scientist Quint (Cusick) fails to save his wife from a genetic disease that he has been searching for a cure for years. Now in a desperate attempt to save his children, he freezes them while conducting experiments in a hope to find a cure.
The problem is that Quint is facing pressure from one of his financers Masterson (Quinlan) who believes his experiment will creating immortality to fix her loved one and former partner Charlie (Harrison) who does want to help with their previous work together. We are left to see the moral questions about being able to cure generic diseases and just how far you should be going in your search for answers.
Thoughts on Chimera
Characters – Quint is a desperate scientist that has spent years searching for a cure for a generic disease which has taken away his wife and will take away his children. He makes deals with people, one on his side, one searching for a similar answer, he will do anything possible to get this answer. Masterson is searching for a cure which would bring immortality in her mind, she is funding the research to make sure she gets the results required. Charlie is the former partner of Quint that has been working to find a cure in a more authorised manor.
Performances – Henry Ian Cusick a man we know from ‘Lost’ he is the lead in this film and we see how his makes his character be as desperate to find the answers as he is, his performance makes us support him and understand his decisions. Kathleen Quinlan is good too as the easy to understand villain through the film and Jenna Harrison comes into her own during the runtime of the film.
Story – The story here does keep us guessing as we are left wondering just whether there will be a cure, we are asked ethical questions which is always a plus in storytelling. This does have twists along the way which will surprise us, but it does become overly ambitious at times because when you go into the scientific side of things, certain discussion can easily go over your head. This would be a good and bad thing because we do like increased intelligence in our films but could push the casual viewer away. I do think this is one for the sci-fi fans to see as the story will give you the questions to ask yourself.
Sci-Fi – The sci-fi side of the film focuses on the idea of what we could achieve in science, when it comes to battling diseases and the process scientists go through, we are in the future for the methods uses, but it would be the near future.
Settings – The film shows us the different locations Quint is performing his off the grid experiments, we see the labs that Charlie is involved in which look cleaner better funded and the shady areas for the meetings with Masterson.
Special Effects – The effects are used very few times in the film, certain moments are to focus on how the characters are feeling during moments.
Scene of the Movie – The final act unfolding.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – This does feel like a film that could have been longer to add moments of scientific discussion.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting and ambitious sci-fi film, it will be one the fans of the genre will enjoy even if the casual fan might miss moments of the sci-fi discussion points.
Overall: Smart and ambitious sci-fi.
Rating
