I knew that this film would deal with something along the lines of creating life outside of the will of Divine Providence. It is about exactly that, but it’s a bit of a standout anomaly in the way it goes about it. I’m not going to take the road most travelled, and call it a modern day Frankenstein tale. Of course the comparisons are easy to make, but I really don’t think that’s what the creative forces behind it were shooting for. I could be wrong, but I saw much more subtext that had to be more than just coincidental.

Victor is a brilliant doctor that has successfully cloned a human infant named Elizabeth. Surprisingly he’s kept all this under wraps while in the developmental phases, and unveils Elizabeth to the media to a firestorm of controversy by protestors from the right and left wings. He answers all the questions from the media with a quiet cool, and promises that Elizabeth will be ready for the world to see after one more month of tests to verify her health.

He takes her back to his house, which is reminiscent of a stately suburb of D.C., even though I think most of in not all of this film is shot in Tennessee. It doesn’t stop all the protests and media buzz from following him, and he finds his life is under a microscope with reports about his past running on newscasts, and his present life being intensely scrutinized. He didn’t clone Elizabeth because he was lonely or childless. He’s got a wife at home and two small daughters. His girls are little enough that they really don’t grasp what’s going on, but his wife realizes the seriousness of the situation. This is more of a human drama than a horror film. It has elements of horror that surface toward the end of the film, but it’s more about how everyone would react if an event like this really occurred, and even more so, it’s a character study of Victor.
Jeremy Childs expertly portrays the seemingly put upon doctor, who seems to have a good, but heavy heart. He’s a slave to being misunderstood because his emotional turmoil can’t make it past his stoic and laconic dialect and mannerism. Then again, he has a dark side. He was a donor to clone Elizabeth and likens himself in a press conference to be more genetically like her brother instead of her father. This also is not the first time he has attempted such a thing with mixed success. Still waters run deep and his motivations are what creeps me out the most. If he could be vilified, it would be much easier to accept that his motives are unholy or impure, but he’s the everyman and I just can’t get a bead on what he’s about.

I recommend “Closer to God” not for anyone looking for a monster movie or even a polished version of Frankenstein. I would recommend it as an intentionally ambiguous, thought provoking cautionary tale that becomes a touchstone for anyone next time cloning is in the headlines.