Director: Billy Senese
MPAA Rating: NR
Run Time: 81 min.
Even before Dolly the Sheep was cloned back in 1996, the concept of cloning has been one of contention and endless arguments over morality, often pitting science against spirituality.
In the film Closer to God, director Billy Senese imagines what would happen if scientists announced they had successfully cloned a human being, with angry protestors being the least of their worries. The film’s beginning is similar to that of a hard science-fiction film, with the first successfully cloned human (a baby girl) announced to the public, followed by the inevitable shit-storm that follows.
Fearing for the safety of the baby, the scientist heading up the project, Victor (Jeremy Childs), transports her to his own house to finish her treatments and testing.
The first two acts of Close to God play out more like a traditional hard sci-fi film, exploring the concept of human cloning and the possible repercussions that would certainly stem from it, but as the plot progresses, we begin to learn Elizabeth wasn’t the first attempt at creating a cloned person.
This is where the movie heads down the horror path, introducing us to a young boy that Victor’s housekeeper is attempting to care for (and who is eventually revealed as a clone as well). The child’s behavior is erratic, becoming more violent and uncontrollable every day, until he eventually escapes the confines of his room and wreaks havoc on everyone living on the property.
As protestors and religious zealots begin picketing outside Victor’s gated home, the tension begins to ramp up, as Victor becomes bombarded with stresses – his wife’s concerns about his work; the housekeeper’s inability to control the other cloned child; a worried nurse who leaks photos of the baby to the press; and of course, caring for the baby (named Elizabeth) and making sure she’s not encountering any health issues. All these elements come to a head in the final act, resulting in a violent clash that, while shocking, proves to be ultimately underwhelming.
Senese starts with a good thing, raising questions about not only the moral aspects of human cloning and inferring the public’s response, but also the methods in which these children are created. There’s a strange round pearl on Elizabeth’s forehead, something that is never fully explained but provides a decent amount of intrigue into how these mad scientists actually made this baby.
The science-fiction elements are abandoned in the final act, however, when the film essentially morphs into a slasher film, with the botched clone stalking and killing everyone he encounters. While many of these scenes are disturbing and effectively creepy, I found myself far more interested in the sci-fi side of the film and yearned for a bit more of that by the end.
Closer to God is not nearly as insufferable as the poster art would lead you to believe, which looks like one of those awful straight-to-DVD horror films; it’s just unfortunate that the best parts of the narrative are left by the wayside in lieu of some blood and guts. Either way, it’s still a relatively entertaining watch that does contain some thought-provoking content.
