Imagine, if you will, being able to grow an entire cow by simply extracting a single living cell from a donor and cloning the original. Now, imagine the implications of cloning a human being. This is the ethical and moral dilemma faced by grieving parents in the techno-thriller GODSEND - if you have the power to recreate life, would you? And more importantly, should you?

In the urban jungle, precocious Adam Duncan celebrates his 8th birthday. Dad Paul, a local high school teacher, is delayed by an encounter with a former student, but arrives in time with Adam's gift - a red & white varsity jacket. Later, Paul and his wife Jess discuss a possible transfer for Paul to the suburbs - would that be a better place to raise their son? The point becomes moot when the next day, Adam is struck by a car in a freak accident and killed. As the devastated parents leave their church, a former mentor of Jess' - Dr. Richard Wells - approaches them. Richard explains he is a research scientist, and offers to help the grieving couple - he can clone Adam. Paul is shocked and outraged, but Jess refuses to let go of her son. The procedure is highly illegal, so Paul and Jess must relocate and sever all ties to their former life if they choose to undergo Richard's procedure. Determined to help his wife, Paul ultimately agrees and the couple begin a new life out in the wilds of suburbia. At the Godsend Clinic, Richard re-impregnates Jess with an embryo culled from the 'original' Adam. Nine months, later, a new Adam enters our world, and for the next few years, the family leaves a blissful, if secret, life.

It's Adam's eighth birthday. To all concerned, he is a normal healthy boy, close to his parents and his 'Uncle' Richard. But soon after, the boy begins to have disturbing nightmares...dreams of the city and a boy in a red & white jacket. Richard tells Paul and Jess that the youngster is suffering from 'night terrors' and he'll outgrow the phenomena. However, the doctor is concerned because they've passed the clone's 'death threshold' - his behavior - his life - is now all uncharted territory. Adam begins to have his visions during the day, and they become more and more real to him. This begins to affect his behavior at school; he becomes distant and even belligerent. Paul is freaked and wants to get a second opinion; Jess is adamant they follow Richard's diagnosis. A science teacher himself, Paul feels that Adam's DNA must be 'remembering' his former life, and this outs him at odds with Richard. The doctor reminds Paul of their illegal tampering with genetics, and the need to keep Adam's 'second birth' a secret. After a vision in the bathtub, a frightened Adam confides to his father that "something bad is gonna happen..." The boys' words are prophetic as the whirlwind of investigation, double-crosses, lies, deceit, heartache, nightmares, and even murder escalate to a shattering conclusion that leaves more than a family fractured from the fallout.

Cloning, humans and otherwise, is posed to be the next political 'hot issue' based on the moral and legal implications such a procedure would have on society as a whole. The ramifications of such an action is the core of GODSEND, distilled to the seemingly simple decision of a couple to have their son back. However noble that choice seems to be, this movie shows us the manipulations and abuse that can be born of such a decision. Just because we can make a clone, the real question is should we? GODSEND takes us on a rollercoaster ride through both sides of the issue, but leaves it up to us to decide if what we've seen is just a genetic aberration or a chillingly accurate view of what might lie ahead. The intricate story is played out well by a stellar cast; Greg Kinnear and Robert DeNiro are great playing opposite sides as Paul and Richard. Youngster Cameron Bright has a complex dual role that he really nails - the depth he shows in his portrayal of Adam reminded me of Patty McCormack in the original "Bad Seed." There are a lot of nightmare/vision scenes intercut into the film, but director Nick Hamm handles the editing well and doesn't allow them to overwhelm the story or unduly confuse the viewer. To be fair, the film does get talky sometimes, and the ending is a bit long. The obligatory plot twist is clever, but I figured it out twenty minutes before Kinnear. Overall though, GODSEND is a gripping thriller about a hot topic that everyone needs to make his or her own ethical decision about.

The DVD of GODSEND includes some interesting extras. First of all, there are FOUR alternate endings, with commentary if desired. In my opinion I'm glad Hamm went with the one he did. There is a full-length commentary option by Hamm, which is fine if you're interested in the 'nuts and bolts' concerning the making of GODSEND. Also included are storyboards for various scenes. I would have liked to see an actual making of featurette with cast/crew interviews about the cloning subject - I think that might have been pretty neat. Also, there was no trailer included for the film, just a few other Lion's gate titles. Humm. The film is presented in letterbox format, and the quality is the high standard for a Hollywood production. The color tone keeps getting darker as the film progresses, a deliberate tactic by Hamm. The "warm to cold" feel it evokes may be subtle, but is very effective reflecting the emotional shift in Adam and his family. Audio is very clean and distinct, as to be expected.

I do not know why GODSEND was ignored when it was released theatrically; the suspense and semi-supernatural feel is akin to such hits as THE OTHERS and THE SIXTH SENSE. The acting is first rate and story complex and interesting. GODSEND is a thought-provoking thriller about what might possibly happen in the near future - or maybe it's already happened...