Saw this at the IMAGINE film festival 2015 in Amsterdam. There were a lot of things I did not understand during the screening, and became clear only when my company explained that we actually saw two William's, with very opposite intentions and attitudes (in hindsight: the synopsis had some clues in that direction, but I overlooked it at the time). Nevertheless, in spite of my lack of understanding of some moves of protagonist(s), I was not lost in the proceedings, and it was still entertaining throughout the running time.
SciFi: Making a clone of yourself is the only SF-element in the story. In the lab where he works, most experiments in that direction (on dogs) turn out to be failures, as all specimen developed some form of brain tumor or blindness. Our human clone seems not to be bothered much by the foresight of these defects, which may happen to him as well in the near future. That strikes me as odd. It should have received more attention in the screenplay, if only to make this movie more interesting while painting a possible future path in medical science.
Drama: The separation from his wife, after having lost their 4-year old son by careless driving, is believable. Adding that to his fixation on his work, which caused the accident in the first place as shown in the opening scene. The interaction between the respective versions of William is not that clear (see above) and needs more attention to get us involved in the dramatic possibilities offered by the plot. It seems that some plot potential is left unused.
Thriller: There are several plot lines offering thriller elements: the stolen clone material and the investigation around the theft, the constant killing by one of the William's to eliminate each and every exposure risk, and so on. It all seem independent building blocks at first sight. The overarching theme can only be put together afterwards, a pity that it was not made more apparent in an earlier stage.
All in all, above paragraphs touch a lot of missed opportunities. These are clearly offered by the plot yet not covered by the script, in spite of being anticipated when reading the synopsis beforehand. Though failing on expectations, the story was not boring overall, and the respective plot lines still made it an interesting watch. A pity that the end result was not more than that.
SciFi: Making a clone of yourself is the only SF-element in the story. In the lab where he works, most experiments in that direction (on dogs) turn out to be failures, as all specimen developed some form of brain tumor or blindness. Our human clone seems not to be bothered much by the foresight of these defects, which may happen to him as well in the near future. That strikes me as odd. It should have received more attention in the screenplay, if only to make this movie more interesting while painting a possible future path in medical science.
Drama: The separation from his wife, after having lost their 4-year old son by careless driving, is believable. Adding that to his fixation on his work, which caused the accident in the first place as shown in the opening scene. The interaction between the respective versions of William is not that clear (see above) and needs more attention to get us involved in the dramatic possibilities offered by the plot. It seems that some plot potential is left unused.
Thriller: There are several plot lines offering thriller elements: the stolen clone material and the investigation around the theft, the constant killing by one of the William's to eliminate each and every exposure risk, and so on. It all seem independent building blocks at first sight. The overarching theme can only be put together afterwards, a pity that it was not made more apparent in an earlier stage.
All in all, above paragraphs touch a lot of missed opportunities. These are clearly offered by the plot yet not covered by the script, in spite of being anticipated when reading the synopsis beforehand. Though failing on expectations, the story was not boring overall, and the respective plot lines still made it an interesting watch. A pity that the end result was not more than that.