History Film / Gattaca

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy:
** Barring [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail some amazing propulsion system they didn't mention]] it would take far longer than a year to get to Titan.
** Titan is not transparent by a long shot, but it's not completely ''opaque'', as Vincent tells Jerome. However this was the common perception back in the 1990s when this was filmed and before the Cassini-Huygens probe got to Titan in 2004. Also given near-future engines, it would be possible as well. In real life, they're still in the research phase...

* AntiVillain: The actual killer. [[spoiler:While he does seem to be a believer in the Genetic caste system, he is a BenevolentBoss towards Vincent, has a sympathetic motive -the Mission Director was looking to kill a project he'd been waiting most of his life for and was too old to have another chance at- and he's willing to confess once the success of the mission has been assured]].

* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Lamar]], [[spoiler:Irene]] and [[spoiler:Anton]] at the end of the movie. Deleted scenes show that both [[spoiler:The head janitor]] and [[spoiler:Anton's partner]] are aware of Vincent's identity but chose not to reveal it.

* AntiVillain: The actual killer. [[spoiler:While he does seem to be a believer in the Genetic caste system, he is a BenevolentBoss towards Vincent, has a sympathetic motive -the Mission Director was login to kill a project he'd been waiting most of his life for and was too old to have another chance at- and he's willing to confess once the success of the mission has been assured]].

* AllegedLookalikes: The fact that DNA samples are more noticed than faces is mentioned, but the only person who notices that Ethan Hawke and Jude Law look nothing alike is the LoveInterest.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Absolutely no one seems to have liked or respected The Mission Director.

* InTheBlood: The true murderer isn't even considered a possible suspect for most of the investigation, on the dubious grounds that his genotype contains no markers for violent behavior.

* FutureSlang: Derisive terms for non-engineered people abound like "Utero", "Faithbirth", "Godchild", "In-Valid", etc, while engineered folk are given complimentary nicknames such as "Vitro", "Valid" or "''Made''-Man".
** A natural-born individual who assumes the identity of an engineered person was often referred to as a "borrowed ladder" or, less flatteringly, a "de-''gene''-erate".

* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: This movie is a GenreThrowback to FilmNoir movies of the 1940s 50s, so everyone has old-timey cars and clothes despite being 20MinutesIntoTheFuture.

* OrangeBlueContrast

* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture

* ExtraDigits: Vincent and Irene attend a concert by a twelve-fingered pianist during one of their dates. Said pianist was genetically designed to have those extra digits because he plays pieces that nobody with only ten fingers would be capable of; his parents decided he would be a pianist before he was even born. (Interesting fact: the pianist in this scene is played by the creator of WebAnimation/RatboyGenius. No, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer we're not kidding.]])

* UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage: All public address announcements are in Esperanto.

** Titan is not transparent by a long shot, but it's not completely ''opaque'', as Vincent tells Jerome. However this was the common perception back in the 1990s when this was filmed and [[ScienceMarchesOn before the Cassini-Huygens probe got to Titan in 2004]]. Also given near-future engines, it would be possible as well. In real life, they're still in the research phase...

* {{Zeerust}}: The movie focuses its future speculation on genetic engineering, so it's natural that other aspects of the film's future would be less well thought out. Still, it can be a bit odd watching the movie and wondering why the televisions and computer monitors look like they're stuck in TheNineties, why [[ScienceMarchesOn Pluto is still a planet]], and why nobody knows [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_probe what Titan's surface looks like.]]
** Then again, in reality, research enabling regular space travel appears to have stalled as well, at least in the public perception, but certainly it's stalled more than genetic research (which itself, of course, hasn't resulted in DesignerBabies just yet). It appears RealLife inverted the matter of which research fields would progress faster over others.
** The aesthetics of the film also deliberately invoke this. The fashion and cars look like they're out of the 50s.

* BurningTheShips: Invoked: When they were kids, Vincent and Anton would play a game of "chicken" where they would swim out to sea as far as possible with the loser being the one who turns s back first. Anton would always win until Vincent beat him by deliberately not saving energy for the swim back, mirroring how Vincent got to where he is in life: by never considering a way back.

* NoNameGiven: The Mission Direcotri s just referred to by his title.

* AntiVillain: The actual killer. [[spoiler:While he does seem to be a believer in the Genetic caste system, he is a BenevolentBoss towards Vincent, has a sympathetic motive -the Mission Director was login to kill a project he'd; been waiting most of his life for and was too old to have another chance at- and he's willing to confess once the success of the mission has been assured]].

* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: Though the police are inclined to focus on Vincent as the primary suspect in the murder case at Gattaca, Anton points out that a random invalid has no motive to kill the Director, whereas just about everyone at Gattaca did. As it turns out, he was right.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Barring [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail some amazing propulsion system they didn't mention]] it would take far longer than a year to get to Titan.
** Titan is not transparent by a long shot, but it's not completely ''opaque'', as Vincent tells Jerome. However this was the common perception back in the 1990s when this was filmed and [[ScienceMarchesOn before the Cassini-Huygens probe got to Titan in 2004]].
** Also given near-future engines, it would be possible as well. In real life, they're still in the research phase...
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Unless there's blood or other stuff that's not supposed to be in there in it, Urine doesn't contain genetic material.
** There will almost certainly be shed epithelial cells from the urethra in there though.

* BuryYourGays: In a deleted scene, when the geneticist asks Antonio and Marie if he had forgotten anything, they mention that they wanted Anton to marry and give them some grandchildren. As he has already taken care of any genetic diseases that would inhibit reproduction, it seems clear that they don't want Anton to be gay. We are then told that the doctors had done this before they had even asked.

--> '''[[WheelchairWoobie Eugene]]''': Well I certainly don't.

* IronicEcho: After Irene mentions her heart condition:
--> '''Irene:''' (handing Vincent a piece of her hair for a DNA test) Here. If you're still interested [after finding out the truth], let me know.
--> '''Vincent:''' (drops hair) Oops. The wind caught it.

---> '''Vincent:''' (hands Irene a strand of hair) Here. If you're still interested, let me know.
---> '''Irene:''' (drops hair) Oops. The wind caught it.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The beginning of the movie actually notes it being "The Not-Too-Distant Future". Whether or not it's NextSundayAD is anyone's guess.
** The year can be narrowed down by the dates listed on the urine specimens. Vincent mentions that he is using Wednesday's sample, marked as 4/21. The close years in which this date falls on a Wednesday are 1999, 2004, 2010, 2021, and 2027.

* SuperDoc: German who besides finding and selling genetic profiles also dabbles as an optromist and a surgeon to help Vincent look more like Eugene; somewhat justified by him likely being a Valid.
* SymbolicBaptism: The protagonist competes routinely with his genetically superior younger brother in swimming races out to the furthest possible point. A pivotal moment in his childhood and resolving to lie about his genetic status comes when he finally wins a race against his brother, proving that he could do anything he set his mind too, genetics be damned. When the stunt is repeated late in life and he once again triumphs, he reveals his secrete to success with his brother [[spoiler: he never planned to make the return trip and was determined to swim out as far as he could, return trip be damned. He was counting on his brother calculating for the return trip.]]

->''"Like many others in my situation, I moved around a lot in the next few years getting work where I could. I must've cleaned half the toilets in the state. I belonged to a new underclass no longer determined by social status or the color of your skin. No...we now have discrimination down to a science."''
-->-- '''Vincent Anton Freeman'''

[[caption-width-right:300:There's no gene for fate. ]]