At its heart, the movie is a consideration of perfection (Picture: Columbia Pictures)

Today marks 20 years since the release of Gattaca in the US on October 24, 1997.

It’s a clever sci-fi movie starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law that still stands as one of the best of the genre.

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It was never the biggest box office hit, but in the years since its release, it’s attracted a significant cult following – with good reason.

A stylish thriller set against a dystopian background, Gattaca depicts a world stratified by eugenics, a caste system imposed on society.


The film boils this down to the intimate, focusing on the single struggle of Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) to move beyond the role ascribed to him.



He wants to be an astronaut – to leave that world behind him – but would normally be denied; the fact he was born without genetic enhancement makes him a target for discrimination.

In turn, he commits one of their society’s greatest crimes and, with the help of an illegal gene dealer, assumes the identity Jerome Morrow (Jude Law).

At its heart, the movie is a consideration of perfection – an interrogation of the drive to achieve perfection and what it truly means to eliminate flaws.

There’s something notable about how Gattaca presents a uniform world through its colour and lighting, dystopian because of its lack of variety – and in turn how this changes around Vincent, a tacit acknowledgement of how he still represents utopian potential in a dystopian world.

(Picture: Columbia Pictures)

Director and writer Andrew Niccol does a brilliant job, creating a compelling new world and realising it with a moody aesthetic.

The movie is introspective and thoughtful, philosophical and ponderous – but never for a moment dull.

In many respects, it’s often deeply tense, as a murder investigation threatens to unravel Vincent’s masterplan once and for all.

It’s a film full of big ideas, and one that’s consistently engaging and entertaining throughout its runtime.

Gattaca is animated by the performances of Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law – indeed, Jude Law’s poignant portrayal of the bitter Jerome is one of his career best.

With lesser actors, the film might not have been as good as it is, but each are perfectly suited to their roles – Hawke and Law in particular have fantastic chemistry together, and it’s their relationship that really forms the backbone of the movie.

Another aspect of the film worth remarking on is Michael Nyman’s beautiful, haunting score.

More so than any other movie I’ve seen, I associate Gattaca with its soundtrack – a fantastic mix of music that lends the movie a palpable sense of atmosphere.

There’s a reason why Gattaca was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Score in 1997, and it’s a crying shame that it didn’t win the award outright.

It’s the sort of science fiction movie we’re missing from cinema these days, with its focus on original ideas and the substance to back up the style; hopefully, it’s also the sort of movie we’ll start to see more of.

Alex Moreland is a freelance writer and student based in London. You can read more of his work here.



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