The following contains mention of sexual assault that takes place in the filmSplice.
Summary
Splice’sending is a harrowing exploration of unintended consequences and how they can spiral out of control. Starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac, 2009’sSplicefocuses on a pair of married scientists working on genetic manipulation. Their latest and potentially greatest creation is a human/animal hybrid, which the pair dub Dren. Initially raising the creation as their child,Splice’s central creature Dren quickly enters adolescence far earlier than Elsa or Clive could expect.
However, this is far from the only transformation that Dren is going through, as she increasingly exhibits new attributes and a lethal side.Splicewas a horrifying sci-fi film that generated solid reviews but failed to match its budget at the box-office.However, the film’s ending remains darkly memorableover a decade since the film premiered. The open-ended nature of the ending leaves plenty of questions for audiences to ponder wherea potentialSplicesequelcould have gone, even as the film clearly plays with a classic theme of the genre.
Splice’s Nature Vs. Nurture Debate: Did Dren Ever Have a Chance?
It’s worth considering if Splice’s Dren could have had a normal life with the right care or if her killer instinct would always get the best of her.
Dren’s Transformation In Splice Explained
Dren’s Transformation Was Teased Earlier In The Film
Dren’s transformation in the third act ofSplicemay have been set up earlier in the film, but it still comes as a harrowing and horrifying turn for the film to make as it approaches the film’s haunting ending.Splice’s creature Drenwas initially biologically a female. Raised as something of a “child” of the two scientists who created her, Dren seemingly died due to internal instability and the external abuse of her creators. In reality, Dren was going through a physical transformation from female to male.
This “death” was similar to how their test creature Ginger had biologically shifted from female to male, due to a major shift in the animals' hormones. The two entities shared a hodgepodge of DNA from various animals, teasing how Dren eventually go through the same change. In both cases,the newly male creature perceives others as potential threatsand quickly goes on the offensive. For Ginger and Fred, the damage was just to them and the reputations of Clive and Elsa. In Dren’s case though, their larger body and more dangerous attributes mean that there is far more collateral damage.
How Dren’s Rampage In Splice Reinforces The Movie’s Core Message
The Dangers Of Untamed Science Becomes Brutally Clear InSplice’s Ending
One of the core themes ofSpliceis the dangers of science when unrestrained by questions of morality. Following in the footsteps of other classic sci-fi horrors likeFrankenstein,Spliceis focused on how human flaws cause attempts to scientifically attain perfection inherently impossible, often to disastrous results. InSplice, that comes in the form of Dren’s final form, with the initially female Dren evolving into a more dangerous male form. This is only amplified by the abuses and failures of Elsa and Clive as parents, turning Dren from a creature into a monster.
Lashing out at Clive and Elsa, Dren ends up killing the former (as well as their employer William Barlow and Clive’s brother Gavin). The male Dren then assaults Elsa, after which Elsa is able to surprise and kill Dren. Since the beginning ofSplice, the moral quandaries inherent to the film’s plot were presented to Elsa and Clive as reasons to be cautious with their ambitions.However, their decisions to ignore these warnings (and ultimately their own flaws) helped create Drenin the first place, as well as the circumstances by which Dren could become a threat.
Elsa’s Tragic Fate Explained
Elsa May SurviveSplice, But Has A Far More Harrowing Life
The ending ofSplicesees Elsa dealing with the secretive aftermath of her actions. Technically, Elsa and Clive’s initial pursuit of new proteins and chemicals through biological experimentation was a success. Dren’s body is discovered to possess a number of unique and potentially world-changing scientific advancements. Barlow’s business partner Joan Chorot helps cover up the events of Dren’s rampage and her company retains the patents on them.Elsa also remains in Chorot’s employ, as it turns out she was impregnated during the assault and intends to help Chorot carry their experiments to the “next level” despite the danger it poses.
Elsa’s fate afterSpliceis a tragic consequence of her own actions. Her commitment to science may be pushed further than ever, but they’ve come at the cost of her husband and Dren. Elsa had come to see Dren as her child, and it was only through Elsa’s brutal treatment of her that Dren became so vicious. Elsa’s final words in the film are to brush aside concerns about carrying Dren’s child with a dismissive “what’s the worst that could happen,” repeating a phrase she uttered before her doomed experiments began thatimplies she is doomed to repeat her mistakes.
Vincenzo Natali’s Splice Pairs Perfectly With This 1931 Classic Monster Movie
Splice is a terrifying sci-fi film about the dangerous potential of unrestrained ambition, making it a modern answer to a horror classic.
How Splice’s Ending Sets Up Potential Sequels
An Expansion OnSplice’s World Could Introduce Dren’s Offspring
The ending ofSpliceis open-ended enough to leave plenty of room for expansion into a sequel.Spliceends with Elsa and Chorot looking ahead to the future scientific possibilities brought to life by Dren.A prospective sequel could see Chorlot’s company expanding on the unique properties discovered in Dren’s body. They could try to replicate the initial creation of Dren under more controlled circumstances, which could highlight the inevitability of man’s hubris in the world of science. Advances in technology and over the last fifteen years could introduce new ways to build on Dren’s genetics, creating something new.
The most obvious direction for a sequel would be to focus on Elsa and her child. Elsa could try to avoid the mistakes she made with Dren, with a possible narrative focusing on her attempts to improve the experiment in the second attempt. Over a decade has passed sinceSplice, making for a realistic amount of time to pass for the child to grow into adolescence naturally.A sequel focusing on this child as they grow could be a compelling explorationof the ramifications of experiments taking on a life of their own, and is a thematically fertile subject matter.
The Real Meaning Of Splice’s Ending
HowSpliceExplores Very Human Flaws In A Heavy Sci-Fi Story
Splice’s ending plays into the film’s underlying themes about the dangers of consequences, both when one is messing with the fundamental building blocks of life or trying to raise a new one as a parent. Elsa and Clive were negligent as both scientists and parents, with Elsa being outright abusive towards Dren at times. Perhaps Dren, Fred, and Ginger could have survived their transformations without becoming monsters if the pair had been more attentive. However, their own personal hang-ups and brewing drama led them to ignore their creations.
This is a very relatable human failing, and one that can cause disastrous consequences. InSplice, those consequences happen to be several bodies and a new species growing within the film’s sole remaining protagonist. While the scientific potential is there within the world ofSpliceto do amazing things,humans find a way to infect those advances with their own problems. No matter how far people can go, they’re still people — meaning their flaws prevent anything from going necessarily perfectly. It’s a classic sci-fi horror theme, and one thatSplicebrings to vivid (and terrifying) light.
Splice
Cast
Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Splice stars Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley as a young scientist couple who, after introducing human DNA into their work with genetic splicing, create a human-animal hybrid being called Dren, who becomes like the couple’s child. Initially positive that they can raise Dren as their daughter, the couple soon finds out that Dren’s nature is far more sinister than it seems.
