Chimera Strain

Chimera Strain by Maurice Haems could have been a great film- It looks amazing and the acting is sublime across the board. Henry Ian Cusick is so bloody good he deserves a nomination somewhere just to get noticed. However, there are some problems- for one the pacing is disjointed and off. Scenes seem rushed and many times a long take scene is immediately followed by a bunch of short ones, which dispenses the flow of the film. The script is good but there is way too much dialogue. Mr. Haems should know that the "show don't tell" rule also applies in a way that one should make the character do things to back their intentions and not just say it. That's for plays. All in all, this is a brave effort and I feel any science fiction lover should see this.

I must commend the filmmakers that they even managed to tackle such a sensitive subject but the issue of morality and the dilemmas it poses becomes central to the film- at the expense of the entertainment. The visuals are amazing including some stomach churning stuff involving operation room objects. Its all pretty much in one setting (the main character's science lab) but the inventive camerawork and editing are good enough to not let that matter. Interesting concept- flawed execution.

This is just one more "Scientist playing God and failing miserably" story. It doesn't matter that the reasons he fails are morally extinct and that the way he handles crisis is to succumb to apparent psychotic strength, because he is a nice scientist that can't do violence. A cliched and ridiculous promise that doesn't really do justice to scientists (or mad scientists for that matter). No person of science would be intimidated by a psycho boss lady and her uber strengthy hench... person. It took three thirds of the movie to reach an obvious conclusions, only to change things as a superfluous twist that no one needed.

Bottom line: a movie in which all people acted for the money, rather than for the idea of the film, resulting in a boring, cliched, pointless plot and a sub mediocre performance.

Featuring towering performances from Henry Ian Cusick and especially Kathleen Quinlan Chimera Strain is a film that will take you by surprise. The set designs are phenomenal with a blueish hue that is always welcome for science fiction lovers and the story- although a bit confusing at times is good enough for the audience to relate with. This low budget film doesn't look or feel low budget at all.

Story is of a man who wants to treat his children's genetic diseases and follows how he tries to do it. Story line jumps all over the place. Very confusing to the viewer, especially at start. Acting was mediocre, sometimes a little poor, although the man was quite good. Editing was poor, poor composition of shots- sometimes very short shot lengths. Overall I did not really enjoy this movie, if your expectations are quite high I recommend you to avoid it