Closer to God
Closer to God
| 18 September 2014 (USA)
Closer to God Trailers

A man on the cutting edge of science becomes the first to successfully clone a person, but events unravel when the news leaks out before his team could prepare for what's to come.

Reviews
GurlyIamBeach

Instant Favorite.

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Yash Wade

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

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Abegail Noëlle

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

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Brooklynn

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

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NA Blackwell

A surprisingly good film. Well structured story line and tense throughout. Thought provoking in parts and genuinely horrifying in others. Acting was well delivered with no cheesy moments that so often happens with horror. Far above average flick.

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Nigel P

This is a relentlessly grim and humourless film – understandably, given the subject matter. Another modern day take on Frankenstein (loosely speaking, most horror stories are), this deals with engineered babies and cloning, and the reaction of modern day media and 'normal' people.Elisabeth is the 'first' of these experiments, and public reaction is exacerbated when one of Doctor Victor's (Jeremy Childs) staff leaks a picture of her to the press: a normal looking child, she nevertheless has an electronic implement injected into her forehead. What follows are various viewpoints presented both for and against Victor's experimentation – for some, it presents hope that certain diseases will be combatted as a result; for others, it represents a violation of their perception of the will of God ('Humans not clones/There's evil among us' they chanted like a mantra).But Elizabeth is not the first experiment. The rampant and deformed Ethan has that dubious honour. Locked in his room, barely shown to the audience, he has behavioural disorders and continues to grow less manageable. One day, Ethan brutally kills the nanny Mary (Shelean Newman).Exhausted, Ethan approaches Victor, having killed Elisabeth in another rage, who embraces him fatherly before giving him a fatal injection. The crowd of protesters outside his home falls silent as Victor shows them Elisabeth's corpse, asking 'Is this who you were afraid of?' Incensed, one protester shoots the doctor, killing him.The subject matter of cloning isn't quite interesting enough to justify its screen time. The characters' reactions to the various developments, Victor's moral dilemma and his belief he is doing positive, progressive work against a whirlwind of protestation and alienation is very well conveyed. But it isn't until Ethan's escape and subsequent blurred violence that things become truly creepy. In the end, when the experiments have presumably come to a shuddering end, will the protesters be happy, or will they simply move on to the next Big Issue and be equally compelled to bring that to an end too?

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Heather Archuleta

I'm writing this to say that i enjoyed watching this film, up until the end . In my own opinion I would have rather seen the baby Elizabeth live than be killed it made me upset to my stomach , I really wish there were a better ending. It seemed to me that the little boy Ethan new that the baby was also a clone and thought of her as a better made clone than he was so it made him crazy .... in the beginning it showed flash backs of him as a baby clone and with defects I get that the scientist couldn't harm the poor thing but he could of at least kept an eye on him he maybe could of then prevented everything bad from happening to him he new how to comfort him in the end when it was already too late that's what he should of done in the first place at least go and see him when the lady asked him to but he kept blowing it off and for that the ending came out very upsetting

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ASouthernHorrorFan

First off let me say that this is not "Splice" or "Splice-like" for any sci-fi, horror fans expecting that kind of movie experience. This film is a more down-to-earth, loose representation of what an event like "a cloned child done secretly then leaked out" would be like, how it would be received by society. "Closer To God" is more of a dark drama with horror affectations.The film is directed by Billy Senese who tells a very emotional, long-drawn out, story with a real heartfelt approach to the human experience surrounding such an event as "Closer To God" explores. Cloning a successful human, then expanding the science of possibilities while protecting the material and the child. Compound that with the social repercussions, religiosity and naturalistic outrage, and you have Senese's film's theme. The cinematography and setting is dark and somber, offering a more emotionally disconnected approach to this dark character study with only slight moments of personality that leak in from the Scientist and host mother's point of view. The rest of the time we are "chaos rubber-neckers" watching from a distance as this train-wreck of scientific achievements unfolds. That doesn't mean that the film or story is without personality or emotion. "Closer To God" reeks of melodrama and emotion, the story is strong and the acting is so well done that a tense, connection develops between the audience that story develops.The horror aspect is minor and you have to hold on for the duration of this slow-burn, melodrama to get to that horror portion. It may not be worth it to die hard horror fans, or people going into the film wanting high energy thrills and chills. "Closer To God" keeps with a somber, macabre, almost haunting atmosphere, like watching a wake or or funeral, but only if the Westboro Church was outside, or the dead person was a mass-murder and also one of your closest relatives. That is the human connection I got once I became invested in these characters and this dark, sci-fi story. The effects are spot on but there isn't a lot of attention or sensationalism offered to those moments. Overall I have to say that, as a dark drama, "Closer To God" is an intense, emotional story that is captivating. As a horror film or a "Frankenstein" styled film, I never really got that aspect. I say some aspect at the end, but it was so underdeveloped or poorly highlighted, that it doesn't really count. I think for people that have a pace of film that they like similar to "Stoker" or "Birth" , then "Closer To God" will be your speed. For more action, suspense, horror film fans-skip it because your just gonna get bored. I personally enjoyed the story and subject matter, I love any film that explores cloning! I say we go there and get it done-let the nightmarish consequences unfold!

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