GattacaMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 64 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 90
    The New York Times | Elvis Mitchell

    A handsome and fully imagined work of cautionary futuristic fiction. Read full review

  • 89
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    Niccol's futuristic fable is a gorgeous construct, from its cast on down to the brilliant, clinical nature of the set design that reflects a future in which even a particle of saliva can be one's undoing. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This is one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Emanuel Levy

    Gattaca, New Zealander helmer Andrew Niccol's impressive feature debut, is an intelligent and timely sci-fi thriller that, with the exception of some illogical plot contrivances, is emotionally engaging almost up to the end. Read full review

  • 70
    Salon.com |

    Implausible in countless ways and wooden for long stretches, Gattaca at least never collapses into a special-effects barrage or erupts in long, choreographed explosions; it sticks carefully to its pristine vision. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Ty Burr

    Sets, music, and imagery are rigorously controlled and undeniably stunning, but after a while flaws creep into the plot's double helix. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Although the movie has its moments -- particularly when our hero finds himself surrounded by a gimlet-eyed circle of futuristic detectives -- it's never really successful. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Clearly, an effort was made to create a serious, thoughtful movie. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Rita Kempley

    Gattaca may be all done up in new-fangled notions, but underneath all the guff about designer babies, it rests on a notion that was a staple of the original "Star Trek" series. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times |

    Niccol's script, which has the earnest simplicity of a freshman philosophy paper, is merely naked exploitation, a sci-fi snow job that projects a contemporary ethical question--would a perfect human be human?--into a solemn future where the worst-case scenario unfolds as conventional Hollywood melodrama. Read full review

View more reviews for Gattaca on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ An interesting concept that doesn't hold water.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie focuses heavily on ideas of identity and accomplishment, though not always in a clear way. Our hero has a strong drive to overcome his supposed weaknesses, but he lies about his identity to do so without consequence. Although violence in the movie is minimal, a brutalized corpse is shown at a murder scene. One character commits suicide by burning himself. There is a very brief sex scene with no explicit nudity. Overall, the movie takes a very strong stance against genetic engineering.
  • Families can talk about this movie's themes of identity, competition, and the future society's notions of perfection. Cloning, genetic research, and identity theft may also be topics of discussion.
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A few characters have questionable judgment.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: One fight scene, a suicide, and the results of a murder are shown.
  • sex false3 Sex: Very brief sex scene with no explicit nudity.
  • language false3 Language: Isolated instances of strong language.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some drinking and cigarette smoking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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