Sometimes the scariest thing is the face in the mirror. Movies about clones often revolve around similar themes. In some, they are about controlling people by creating them from scratch. In others, it’s about the exploration of science and possibility in ways that ethics and morality stop us.
Either way, they are often subtle ways to show mankind truths they refuse to acknowledge. Then again, the purpose of some of these films could just be to show us something unnerving. Whatever the reason, they make us look inwards. They make us ask ourselves what we would do when facing the familiar faces looking back at us. Here are the best movies about clones.
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The Wilson family travels back to their Santa Cruz home for summer vacation with the plan to reconnect with friends and lounge on the beach. That’s the hope, at least. The summer home is close to a place where Adelaide, the matriarch, had a strange encounter as a child with someone that looked exactly like her. It’s a memory she’s repressed, but one she fears will soon come back to haunt her. She has no idea how right she is when, one night, the Wilson’s vacation home is invaded by four strangers who bare a striking resemblance to each of them. Jordan Peele’sUsgives a new spin tothe doppelganger storyas the family’s efforts to evade their lookalikes bring to light a startling discovery that goes much farther than their beach house. No one is safe when danger wears a familiar face.
7Swan Song
Swan Songstars Academy Award-winner Mahershala Ali as a loving father and husband who discovers that he is terminally ill. With his fate decided for him, his doctor presents him with a chance to spare his family the grief of losing him. With his consent, he will be cloned, with his duplicate taking his place in his family without their knowledge. He then gets to spend what time he has left watching them move on without him. It’s a heartbreaking story about life, love, and what a man would do for his family. Ali is perfectly cast as his performance is as riveting as always.Swan Songisn’t a movie that is likely to leave the mind soon after watching.
After finding out that she has a terminal illness, Sarah consents to have herself cloned. She does this as her way of sparing her family the grief of losing her, allowing them to move on as if she never left. So far,Dualsounds exactly likeSwan Song,but there’s a twist. Sarah miraculously recovers from the illness and gets to continue living — if she wins, however. By law, no human is allowed to live longer than the time limit of their clone. Only one is allowed to walk the earth. If she wishes to take back control of her life, she must first kill her clone in a fight to the death.Karen Gillan starsas both Sarah and her double. Aaron Paul also stars as her trainer for her upcoming deathmatch.
Following an alien invasion, humanity has relocated to Saturn’s largest moon. Earth has become a shell abandoned by its dominant species and has mostly reverted to its natural state. A technician named Jack (Tom Cruise) is sent back to his homeworld to service drones in their fight against the extraterrestrial enemy. During his time back on Earth he learns that he has been cloned. From here, he starts to question his existence as well as everything he thought he knew about what really ravaged the planet.Oblivionis a gripping sci-fi throwback and, perLooper, by far one of the best films about clones to date.
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4Never Let Me Go
At its heart,Never Let Me Gois a love story. It just so happens to revolve around clones. The film follows a trio of clones from a boarding school for their kind. This place serves as humanity’s last attempt at the ethical treatment of clones because, in reality, they are not meant to grow old. In this alternate timeline, clones are made for the sole purpose of organ donation. While this allows most humans to live past the age of 100, the clones are raised to die on the operating table to ensure the survival of natural-born humans. Haunting, beautiful, and sad, this film says a lotabout human natureas it explores a possibility that isn’t far off now.
Moontakes us to the year 2035 where Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), having lived in complete isolation in space, only has three weeks left on a three-year contract. He’s had no company except for an AI, and he’s anxious to return home. He hasn’t had much contact with Earth, resulting in him talking to himself and his plants. However, after an accident, he begins to suspect he may not be alone in the space station. On the brink of losing it completely, he discovers a copy of himself in the station with him. It’s a shocking discovery and one that results in him learning some startling truths about his mission.
Set years into the future, Logan and Charles Xavier have seen better days. Logan’s powers aren’t what they used to be, as his healing factor has degenerated to the point where it leaves Logan in chronic pain. Existence seems dim until Laura comes into their lives in need of an escort to a place called Eden. She is a biological weapon created from Logan’s DNA, making her his clone and daughter. Searching for them is a group of mercenaries representing the company behind Laura’s creation. With them is the ultimate weapon, a clone of Logan in his prime hellbent on killing them.Loganis a fitting farewell to the famous hero and a stellar clone film. Hugh Jackman’s acting has never been better in this final battle for the X-man that made us fall in love with the X-Men.
1Jurassic Park
The number one spot for the best clone film goes to the Stephen Spielberg classicJurassic Park. Alan Grant gets more than he bargained for when he visits an amusement park of live dinosaurs, creatures cloned from DNA inside mosquitos preserved in amber. Doctor John Hammond thought he could keep the beasts contained if he resurrected them, but he was gravely mistaken. The creatures are set loose to wreak havoc on the island resort and everything they come across. To make matters worse, Hammond’s grandchildren are lost in the jungle with only Alan to keep them safe as the most dangerous predators to ever exist take control of the very place meant to put them on display.Jurassic Parkshould be seen as a warning against meddling with things that time left behind. It can also be looked at as a warning against the human habit of meddling with things beyond our control. If there’s one common theme that the films on this list share, it’s that when creating life, we get out what we put in, meaning that control is finite and can be taken.
