Gattaca (1997)

No gene can measure the strength of the human spirit or the lengths a person will go to chase a dream. Andrew Niccol's "Gattaca," confidently conceived and brilliantly executed, slipped quietly into theaters in 1997 and struggled at the box office, but critics praised its originality, and it has since come to be recognized as one of the smartest science-fiction films of the 1990s. Writer-director Niccol, the gifted New Zealander who also wrote "The Truman Show," imagines a near-future society in which a person's destiny is decided by their DNA. Genetically engineered "valids" land the best jobs at elite corporations like Gattaca, which trains its top recruits for space travel, while naturally conceived "in-valids" like Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) are labeled genetically flawed and relegated to menial work. With help from Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), a genetically perfect former athlete left paralyzed by an accident, Vincent borrows his identity to defy society's barriers and pursue his dream of flying into space. But one stray eyelash or a random slip, not to mention a murder investigation at Gattaca, could expose him. Part thriller, part futuristic drama and part cautionary tale, it builds its world so convincingly that the whole scenario feels chillingly plausible. Uma Thurman co-stars as a co-worker who falls for Vincent and understands his struggle, and Alan Arkin plays a dogged detective. Stylish and smart, it gets its heartbreaking humanity from Law's moving performance.