4K Ultra HD Film Review

Gattaca (1997) • 4K Ultra HD

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

Andrew Niccol is best-known for writing The Truman Show (1998), but that’s one of the few screenplays he didn’t direct himself. Gattaca launched his career on a quieter note the year before, paving the way for a run of high-concept sci-fi stories that peaked early with Truman and have mostly floundered with audiences since Simone (2002). You may not even remember In Time (2011) with Justin Timberlake, or Anon (2018) with Clive Owen. All his movies have one thing in common: they’re intelligent stories about ordinary people caught up in a future society’s technological problems.

Gattaca takes place in a “near future” where science has made it possible for parents to conceive children with optimal genetic makeup. Such babies are known as “valids”, while those born using old-fashioned chance are designated “in-valid”. One such in-valid is Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), the eldest son of a middle-class couple who didn’t have him genetically…