Gattaca

A handsome and fully imagined work of cautionary futuristic fiction.

This is one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas.

Gattaca is a welcome throwback to the days of good, low-tech sci-fi, stressing character and atmosphere over computer-generated effects and juvenile thrills.

Designer babies rule dystopia in stylish SF thriller filled with recycled plot devices.

Niccol's work is artful but self-important and thin.

Clearly, an effort was made to create a serious, thoughtful movie.

The moody images and Michael Nyman's score aren't enough to salvage this banal 1997 science fiction story.

Not a popular movie, but a very good one: The dystopian world is very well made, I like such settings. The story is good and changes to be a criminal movie, but more like a cat and mouse game.

One of the most heartbreaking sci-fi movies ever made. Soundtrack is amazing.

The cold pulse of will. 'Gattaca' is one of those films that leave me with a feeling of absolute indifference, as if the journey had been correct yet emotionally distant. The problem is not the story itself —the premise works and is genuinely stimulating— but the atmosphere. Its sober, harsh, restrained and cold world builds a barrier that is difficult to cross for most of the runtime. Everything is measured, clean, calculated… and that very rigidity is what, paradoxically, keeps me at a distance as a viewer. What is impossible to ignore is its spectacular cinematography. Slawomir Idziak delivers magnificent work, using intense, striking colours that can feel almost aggressive —at times literally dazzling— yet ultimately seductive. There is beauty in every frame, a very clear aesthetic intention. Where I begin to disconnect is in the production design: highly controlled, almost aseptic spaces that reinforce the film’s concept but also deepen the sense of coldness that permeates it. The thematic core of 'Gattaca' is solid and immediately recognizable: the idea that human beings cannot be reduced to data or statistics, that limits exist to be surpassed, crossed, and questioned, and that identity extends beyond what can be measured. It is an engaging discourse, handled with elegance, though it never fully manages to shake me on an emotional level. Ethan Hawke carries much of that dramatic weight with a finely tuned performance. I have rarely seen him so clearly defined, so aware of what his character represents and how to communicate it. His presence is restrained yet tense, and that tension becomes contagious once the story begins to unfold. Uma Thurman complements him with leadership, determination, and a very human blend of strength and affection. Together, they share a calm, almost silent chemistry that nonetheless proves effective. The first half hour feels uphill to me —not because of pacing, but because it takes time for the film to reach the point where everything truly begins to simmer. When it does, the narrative gains substance and pulls me in, following the emotional pulse set by Hawke. The screenplay, surprisingly, manages to make certain narrative clichés feel believable, thanks to an honest and carefully measured execution. What stands out most are the dialogues: among the finest I have encountered for their wit and eloquence. More than once I find myself thinking, wow, simply listening to them. They are, quite simply, brilliant. In the end, I see 'Gattaca' as a solid work that never fully convinces me, yet never repels me either. I will not remember it as one of my favourite science-fiction films, nor as a transformative experience, but rather as a cultured, elegant and entertaining dystopia —one that leaves behind a pleasant, if somewhat cold, memory over time.

Esthétique froide et quasi huis clos: la forme rencontre donc admirablement le fond, à savoir une société aseptisée et qui enferme les individus dans un destin déjà écrit. Les tendances au mélodrame, soutenues notamment par une musique larmoyante de bout en bout, rendent cependant le film pénible à regarder. Les qualités du film sont indéniables mais la morale certainement trop présente pour un regard cynique.

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