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Morgan
Stars: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti
Director: Luke Scott
Its sometimes claimed in the annals of Hollywood nepotism that the son also rises.
Unhappily, not here.
Luke Scott, son of Alien, Thelma and Louise and The Martian director Ridley Scott, regrettably misses the mark with this derivative shocker which, despite obvious echoes of Ex Machina, owes much more (unacknowledged) to Mary Shelleys creature creation classic Frankenstein.
Seth Owens lumpy screenplay introduces the eponymous Morgan, a DNA created-human female played by Anya Taylor-Joy who, while apparently fully formed as a teenage woman, is intellectually only five years old and initially behaves badly by stabbing doctor Jennifer Jason Leigh in the eye.
Enter icy risk management executive Kate Mara who has been sent by the company who bankrolled the experiment to the isolated unit where Morgan lurks in her glass cage. Maras mission which she has accepted is to decide whether to continue to invest in the project or pull the plug on Morgan
Before long, as Mara begins to interact with Taylor Joy, genre clichés rain down and Morgan turns increasingly nasty
The cast works hard Toby Jones furrows his brow credibly as a dubious scientist - but like Morgan, Mara is suitably cold and Taylor-Joy does what a scientific creation has to do; but, as the story staggers to its predictable climax like a exhausted android, only shockfilm neophytes might be surprised.
Technically, the film, produced by Lukes father Ridley, is effective enough, with Mark Pattens atmospheric cinematography a major asset.
Alan Frank
USA 2016. UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Colour by deluxe.
92 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.
Review date: 08 Sep 2016