Well, well, well. This is a pleasant surprise.
'The replacement' plays in a familiar narrative space, true. There are tropes at hand we've seen utilized before, and ultimately the concept is one that's at the core of a particularly famous sci-fi film. Yet writer-director Sean Miller brings us a short that uses these ideas in a way that's not been done before, at least not in any point of comparison that immediately comes to mind. More renowned stories impart the future aftermath of scenarios like the narrative depicted here. To tell a tale that revolves around the rise of clones, or otherwise genetically engineered people, is a slightly different take. And at least for my part, I think it's done pretty well. These 15 minutes are engaging, and solid from a standpoint of both writing and technical craft.
But more surprising still is what 'The replacement' does in the time it is given.
Far longer features have tried to cram a boatload of themes and elements into their runtime. Sometimes it works well; other times, they stumble, with notions that aren't sufficiently explored. Or maybe the production just feels too busy, or overdone.
That's worth keeping in mind while simply listing the retinue of ideas this short dances across: bioethics, consumer rights, human rights, prejudice, individuality versus collectivism, dystopia, wish fulfillment, self-realization, obsolescence, executive power, the brutality of police and private security, and more. There's a lot to unpack here, and it would be very easy for this short to get weighed down by the complexity of everything it tries to touch upon. Yet it doesn't: the themes underlying the storytelling are secondary to the narrative, and serve it rather than become its focus. Much more established filmmakers have fumbled in attempting that same balance.
'The replacement' is hardly revelatory, but it's well made, reasonably original, and broaches a wide range of issues and thoughts without getting hung up on any of them. Simply for the quality of its craft, this is worth watching.
