Film Review: Replicas

I vividly remember experiencing the same thing whenever I saw the trailer for Replicas. There’s a point in the middle or so where it pauses so Thomas Middleditch can hauntingly deliver the line, “what if something horrible goes wrong?” to Keanu Reeves. And every time I hear that phrase, I can’t help but think to myself, wait…wouldn’t that be a good thing? It’s like in one draft they had “what if something horrible happens,” a later draft said, “what if something goes wrong,” and during filming, Middleditch accidentally mixed the phrases, but no one thought to do another take. It’s just so odd. What I didn’t realize at the time was the whole movie would end up feeling that way. Just odd.

However, it does have a compelling idea at the center of it, at least, on paper. Keanu Reeves plays William Foster, a scientist working for a biomedical institute where he is attempting to imprint the human mind into a synthetic body. Unfortunately, his personal life takes a turn, as a car crash kills his wife, Mona (Alice Eve), and their three kids. Unable to accept the fate, he decides to use the technology at his disposal – with the reluctant help of his friend and co-worker, Ed (Thomas Middleditch) – and attempts to resurrect his family in the form of biological clones.

But even with that idea, the overall film, which is written by Chad St. John and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, is exactly the kind of movie you think it is, given the people involved, given the way it looks, and given the early January release date. It’s a sloppy and awkward film with questionable effects, even more questionable plotting, and it can’t even hope to ponder its themes in a smart and meaningful way, beyond the most broad of strokes.

Although, despite many obvious issues and flaws, I was fairly entertained by it. Reeves has always been one of my favorite actors, and his unique screen presence can elevate junky material into something that is, at the very least, watchable, and that is what he does here. After a certain point, I was simply engaged with Reeves’ character, and I wanted to see where he would take things as the plot continued zigging and zagging.

Occasionally, there will be lines and moments that play as unintentionally funny, but the film also has its fair share of intended humor, which gives us a glimpse into a far more interesting and idiosyncratic film. I did wish it leaned harder on the humor, since it could’ve made the ludicrous plot turns more easy to swallow. There is one delightful sequence where William is posing as his family, trying to cover his tracks through their phones and social media profiles and emails as he gets knee deep in the cloning process. A message from one of his daughter’s friends mentions her about her bae, and he simply types back “BAE?!?!” It’s legitimately funny, and acts as a playful contrast to the otherwise dour, heady moments, like him having to decide which one of his three kids will have to be left behind and forgotten because he only has three pods to make the clones, and it’s in these more intimate moments where the themes on identity, death, and grief manage to shine through. Someone like Reeves can sell the absurdity and weight really well, and here, it’s often in spite of the clumsy dialogue.

The rest of the performances are serviceable enough, especially given the material they were forced to deal with. Alice Eve brings some nuance to the idea of living as a clone, and the horror that comes with being brought back to life and the unreal nature of it. Middleditch is the same awkward, nerdy guy he’s played many times before, but hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The only other performer who makes an impression is John Ortiz as Jones, the man in charge of Biodyne, the company William works for. Though, a reveal in the third act regarding his character felt like something out of a completely different movie.

If you want to watch Replicas as a movie you can have fun with and riff with your friends, it will definitely provide a lot of enjoyment. I don’t think it’s all bad, largely due to some performances and an inherently compelling premise, but it certainly doesn’t reach its potential as a geuinely thoughtful work of science fiction. The themes explored here are done rather superficially, and they have been well tread in plenty of other sci-fi stories. Replicas is incredibly dopey, but it’s executed just earnest enough, and it’s got just the right amount of weirdness to keep things interesting and not boring. It ain’t great, but you can do so much worse.