So how would you play God if you could? Would you create world peace? Obliterate poverty? Find eternal love? Win the lottery? Save a species? Get revenge? Go back in time? What? Personally, I think over 90% of the planet’s problems are attributable to overpopulation. If I could solve that one without war, execution or sterility, I would.
On a micro scale, however, movie scientists like to play God by making life. The usual result seems to be a T-Rex chasing down Jeff Goldblum, but often there are more subtle horrors, as in today’s creation: Morgan. Artificially created “human” being Morgan takes out Jennifer Jason Leigh’s left eye in the opening scene. You’d think JJL would have learned to keep her guard up after Hateful Eight, but she didn’t, and she’s lucky to be alive. The hyper-intelligent Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) appears to be about 17 or 18, maybe, but we’re told she’s just five – part of the artificial creation procedure involved acceleration of the aging process. So this is a potential issue – did the accelerated physical and intellectual growth in Morgan match an accelerated emotional growth? And if not, what is the solution? Do you just keep her in juvy while she solves the world’s climate and energy crises single-handed?
Back to the issue at hand, Morgan attacked JJL because the little minx didn’t get to go outside. And now “Corporate” is sending some folks to study the lone captive in her secluded forest jail. This movie is actually less about test tube quasi-human being Morgan than Corporate assessment agent Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), who establishes very early on that she is out to screw with anybody who needs clear gender identification in his/her life. Lee seems taken with androgyny the way LeBron James has taken to basketball. And she insists Morgan is an “it,” when everybody around her calls Morgan a “she.” Oh, so you gonna lay on the tunnel-vision cisnormative crowd just because they deserve it; how fair is that? One of the underlying conflicts in the film is the pro-Morgan solidarity within the compound. JJL is practically apologetic about Morgan taking her eye out – kinda reminded of Dick Cheney’s hunting accident.
I’m not sure if the choice was intended to disguise Morgan’s sexuality or just lend an air of mystery, but Morgan wears a hoodie 24/7. Now I know what you’re thinking – “problem with a person in a hoodie? Just invite George Zimmerman over; this will pretty much sort itself out. Right?” Too soon? [Ill-advised jokes aside, George Zimmerman belongs in jail. And, ideally, his actions would spark reasonable national discussions on the subjects of bigotry, white 
privilege, and paranoia. The fact that no such discussions have taken place is reason enough, IMHO, to support BLM.]
Apologies for the politics. If you read my stuff, you know it’s gonna happen from time-to-time, especially as such an emotionally charged election approaches.
Morgan evolves into a thriller, which is a shame because there were many more questions about playing God that the film failed to answer. During run-time, I found this a cop-out – you introduce a super-human and a conflict within the make-up of the superhuman … and then you fail to address the underlying cause of said conflict, or even the conflict itself. In retrospect, however, Morgan is a deeper film than I gave it credit for. It is by no means perfect, but it went a ways towards addressing said conflict reflected mostly in the post-film discussion world. The idea that this film is worthy of discussion pushes me from no recommendation to slight recommendation … but that could just be cyber-Frog talking.
♪I’ve never seen you looking so pale as when in this light
I’ve never seen you put up a fight
I’ve never seen Corporate ask about happiness
None of them like to guess; it’s kind of a mess
And I’ve never seen that look you’re wearing
Or malevolence behind that hood shown in your eyes
Don’t make me blind
The lady we bred
Is slapping my face
Cheek to cheek
There’s nobody here, wish I could flee
(I’m) Nowhere I want to be
And I hardly know this killer in our lab
I’ll never forget the way that kid can stab♫
Rated R, 92 Minutes
D: Luke Scott
W: Seth W. Owen
Genre: Welcoming our new overlords
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: The mom from Room
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Scientists
♪ Parody inspired by “The Lady in Red”
