Gattaca (1997) on Netflix
PG-1319971h 47mDramaSci-FiThriller
In a society that ranks people by their genes, Vincent Freeman dreams of space travel. He takes the identity of the genetically superior Jerome Morrow to join the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.7/10350,923 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Vincent Freeman is one of the last children conceived naturally in a world where genetic selection is the norm and a person's profile decides their job and their future. His own profile predicts heart trouble and a short life, so his dream of space travel looks closed to him. He leaves home and takes work cleaning offices, among them the buildings of Gattaca Aerospace Corporation, where a place on a mission to Titan is the prize. He takes on the identity of Jerome Eugene Morrow, a former swimming star left paralyzed by a car accident. Hired at Gattaca and chosen as a navigator, Vincent must pass daily gene and urine tests using Jerome's samples, scrub away his own genetic traces, and hide his heart condition from everyone around him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gattaca (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In a 2013 speech at Liberty University, U.S. Senator Rand Paul used near-verbatim portions of the film's Wikipedia plot summary to argue that abortion rights advocates were advancing eugenics similar to Gattaca's world.
- The film was shot under the working title The Eighth Day, but was retitled Gattaca because the Belgian film Le huitième jour had already been released in the US under that English title.
- The speakers in the Gattaca complex broadcast announcements in both Esperanto and English; Miko Sloper from the Esperanto League of North America went to the recording studio to handle the Esperanto part.
- A planned Showtime television sequel series, set one generation after the film with Danny DeVito (who had produced the original) as an executive producer, was abandoned by the network in June 2023.
- Writer-director Andrew Niccol has described his own 2011 film In Time as a "bastard child of Gattaca," noting both films share retro-styled cars, a dystopian caste system, and a protagonist who challenges investigators reluctant to look too closely at him.
- Molecular biologist Lee M. Silver wrote in the journal Nature Genetics that geneticists should watch Gattaca just to understand how the public perceives their profession.
- The Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray versions released on March 11, 2008 both contain a deleted scene featuring historical figures like Einstein and Lincoln, who are described as having been genetically deficient.
