FAQ

In hopes of producing proteins for medical use, genetic scientists Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) have successfully created two hybrid creatures, Fred and Ginger, by splicing together the DNA of various animals. Based on their success, they are now ready to take their research to the second stage—splicing in human DNA. When their bosses call off their experiments, Clive and Elsa decide to proceed in secret and generate Dren (child Abigail Chu, adult Delphine Chanéac), a life form with human characteristics. However, being humanoid is not the same as being human.

Splice is based on a screenplay written by American-Canadian director Vincenzo Natali and screenwriters Doug Taylor and Antoinette Terry Bryant. It was originally conceived as a follow-up to Natali's Cube (1997) (1997).

Clive and Elsa were attempting to isolate the genes that produce medicinal proteins for livestock with hopes of one day being able to produce compounds that could cure such human ailments as cancer and Alzheimer's. They had genetically engineered Fred and Ginger to produce a compound called CD356.

Early in the film, it was shown that Clive and Elsa were experimenting with manipulation of bird, horse, fish, kangaroo, salamander, stingray, and plant DNA. Elsa added her own human DNA to the soup to create Dren. Certainly, Dren showed characteristics of several of these animals: the wings of a bird, the lungs of a fish, the tail of the stingray, the tiny arms of the kangaroo, etc.

It was never established in the movie how quickly events unfolded. At one point, just before they move to the barn, Elsa mentions that a month has gone by. They then move to the barn during the winter, and it stays winter for the rest of the movie. That would amount to the entire sequence of Dren's growth happening over two to three months.

Yes. Fish, frogs, toads, newts, and some birds are known to change genders as a response to physical or environmental factors, such as temperature or the absence of members of the opposite sex. Males can become female, females can become male, and occasionally both sexes will be present in the same individual. All humans actually start out as females. At some point during development, the Y chromosome of the male, if present, triggers testis formation, causing the female embryo to develop as a male.

Elsa and Clive return to the barn to find Dren dying. They bury her. As they're burning her things, Gavin (Brandon McGibbon) and Barlow (David Hewlett) drive up. Barlow discovered human DNA in the samples and got Gavin to tell him about Dren. Barlow demands to see Dren, so Elsa tosses him a shovel and tells him to dig her up. Barlow goes behind the barn to do so, but there is a sudden gust of wind, a shriek, and Barlow is gone. Elsa, Clive, and Gavin look around and find him bloodied and murdered, hanging from a tree. They hear another shriek, and they suddenly see a fully mutated Dren standing on the roof. They try to coax her down, but she flies past them and grabs Gavin. Clive tries to run to him but drops the flashlight in a pond. He tries to fish it out, but Dren pulls him into the pond and holds him under the water. Clive manages to break free, and Elsa pulls him from the water. Suddenly Dren rises from the water, and it is readily apparent that the same thing as happened to Ginger has happened to Dren...she has become a he. He goes after Elsa and jumps on her. "What do you want?" she screams. "In...side...you," Dren replies and rapes her. Clive regains full consciousness and stumbles towards Elsa, finding his brother Gavin dead in the snow. He sneaks up behind Elsa and Dren, and runs a stake through Dren's back, but Dren stabs Clive with the poison stinger on the tip of his tail. As Clive dies, Elsa bashes Dren in the head with a rock, then collapses in the snow. In the final scene, which takes place some time later in the office of Joan Chorot (Simona Maicanescu), Joan tells Elsa that Dren's body was filled with a variety of unique compounds, including high levels of CD356. This will guarantee the company's existence for years to come. Joan offers Elsa a generous settlement for agreeing to take her research to the next stage. Elsa signs on the dotted line, then stands up, showing that she is pregnant. Joan offers Elsa one more moment to reconsider, asking if she really wants to go through with this pregnancy. Elsa blankly says: "What is the worst thing that could happen?"

That question is not answered in the movie. It appears, however, that both Elsa and Joan think it's Dren's. Elsa and Clive also had sex without protection, so it's possible that the baby could be Clive's, but it's doubtful that N.E.R.D. would pay Elsa a generous sum without first doing tests to determine paternity.

Splice is often compared to Species (1995) (1995) in which scientists create a creature using human and alien DNA. Other movies that contain creatures of mixed DNA include The Fly (1958) (1958) and its 1986 remake The Fly (1986) in which a man's body becomes merged with that of a fly, and any of the Frankenstein movies where Dr Frankenstein creates a monster using parts of bodies from numerous "donors."

Yes. In France and Germany, to name a few countries, a slightly longer version got released, whereas in the US, Canada and the UK, the well-known US cut was published. The differences are almost marginal. Lots of the differences are cuts with a length of a few seconds, which actually doesn't make any difference at all. Only two dialog passages removed in the US Version plus the only really important cut at the end are actually worth being mentioned, the rest is trivial.