quietearth [Film Festival 10.13.12] scifi thriller drama



[This is a re-post of my Fantasia review]

Errors of the Human Body is not a high concept sci-fi piece with flying cars or rotating space stations. It won't wash your dishes then pleasure you. The science fiction component is merely a vehicle, an amoeba which evolves the narrative in a pristine and uncontaminated environment for this engrossing Rubiks Cube of a thriller.


Michael Eklund plays Geoff, a deeply disturbed geneticist whose palpable angst stems from his inability to cope with the loss of his child, due to a genetic mutation. Forced out of his University position, he is brought into an unnamed genetics company by former intern Rebekka (Karoline Jerfurth) to obstensibly continue his research. She's a past love interest and is onto something big. Also inserted into the cast's centrifuge is Jarek (Tomas Lemarquis) who plays the antagonist: a creepy and reckless hot shot scientist. Jarek is the catalyst for Geoff's rapid decline.

Geoff never gets to his research. Instead, Jarek and Rebecca's secretrive nature presents a mystery which must be solved. All of this plays out within the compound of the genetics company where Geoff sneaks through the hallways in the dead of night. I'm not going to detail the plot any further: the less you know, the better.

Errors is beautifully shot with a frosty palette of whites and greys which provide a clinical precision perfect for the storyline. However, this precision extends well beyond the script to both the acting and editing, and this combination is where this film excels. Thrillers are based on buildup and pacing which in Errors, borders on immaculate, only marred by a few minute drag within the second act. There's no frills or melodrama. Errors is decisive: it sticks with the thriller formula and executes it almost perfectly.

Here's hoping Hollywood doesn't ruin another great talent.

Sheean also wrote The Divide which Xavier Gens directed, another film I highly reccomend.

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