History Film / RepoTheGeneticOpera

''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' is a 2008 rock opera/cult film. It's written and composed by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith, and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (of ''Film/SawII, [[Film/SawIII III]],'' ''[[Film/SawIV IV]]'' and ''Film/Spiral2021'' fame). The film is based on their 2002 play of the same name. It's a gory, dystopian and ultimately very moving BlackComedy that never takes itself ''too'' seriously. Widely known and loved for its QuestionableCasting (see below) and its lush soundtrack, the film has become a modern cult classic. It's also an ''actual'' opera: nearly every line of dialogue is sung, and the story is one continuous musical number.

** Well, chronologically speaking, if we say Rocky Horror happened ''around'' the year of its (film) release, and take Zdunich's age as Graverobber's, it's not much of a stretch ''numerically''...

* ContinuitySnarl: See the Expanded Universe entry. Basically, the Website/MySpace pages were barely touched by the actual higher-ups. However, many consider them canon. This is made complicated by the fact some IS written by Word of God, and Word of God never told the Myspace writers they were inaccurate, or corrected anything afterwards.

** Just in case the beginning of "Zydrate Anatomy" was too subtle for you, the Graverobber gets a nice little dance from [[spoiler: Amber]] before he, uh, delivers an injection to her upper thigh.

* DoubleStandard: All three Largo siblings are [[EvilIsPetty petty]], vindictive, spiteful, philandering "scalpel sluts" addicted to surgery, yet [[{{Narcissist}} Pavi]] and [[PsychopathicManchild Luigi]] are largely considered sexy ensemble darkhorses for it while their sister Amber Sweet is nowhere near as popular. This, despite how the brothers are [[BlackComedy full-blown murderers and rapists]] who kill and wear other people's faces on-screen, while Amber is implied to have only ''consensual'' sex for drugs, and is usually [[TheStoner too high]] to actively hurt anyone [[spoiler: till the very end]]. A large part of this is likely due to the fact Creator/ParisHilton was cast as Amber Sweet.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Blind Mag chooses to leave [=GeneCo=], knowing this will mean her death; at the end, she snaps and tears out her own eyes on stage, forcing Rotti to kill her, rather than waiting to be hunted down like a dog by the Repo Men.]]

** The Repo Man becomes much deeper and hoarse when he's on the job. Just compare ''Legal Assassin'' to ''Thankless Job''. Lampshaded when he [[spoiler: switches voices in the same take so he can talk to Shilo.]]

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Mag decides she would rather not see any more, and gouges her own eyes out at the opera.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Mag in the end. She stabs out her own eyes rather than have them repo'd on [=GeneCo=]'s terms.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Rotti Largo claims, when talking to Marni's tomb, that though he's dying, he'll go out with a bang. [[spoiler: And technically he does - shooting Nathan before he dies of his illness.]]

** How does Mag feel about leaving [=GeneCo=]? [[spoiler: She's on the fence about it.]]

--> "And the mighty fine print hastens the trip to our epilogue. (EPILOGUE!)"

* InTheBlood: Shilo inherited Dead Marni's blood disease. [[spoiler: Or so she thinks.]]

** Marni to an extent -- she sweet-talks Rotti into helping her friend and then dumps him for Nathan pretty soon afterwards...but then again, considering what Rotti has done to his ''other'' lady loves in the past, can you blame her for wanting to find someone less likely to have her killed on a whim? [[spoiler: SelfFulfillingProphecy if ever there was one...]]

* MedicationTampering: PlayedForDrama and {{Inverted}}. Ill child Shilo is kept homebound due to a rare blood condition, which she takes daily medication for. In the finale, [[spoiler:it is revealed that Shilo's father has been poisoning her with the "medicine," which causes her to exhibit the symptoms of her vague illness; she is completely healthy when not taking it.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Nathan finally asks this question [[spoiler: right before his death.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Part of the reason Nathan is such a crazypants is because he was a doctor before he became a Repo Man, and was responsible for his wife's death. [[spoiler: Or so he thinks.]]

* OnlySaneMan: Blind Mag is the most well adjusted member of the cast by far. Yes, you heard us correctly; the woman [[spoiler: ''who rips out her eyes with her fingernails'']] is possibly the sanest person in this story.

** And [[spoiler: Amber Sweet]] is addicted to the knife...

* RoyalRapier: Rotti, the closest thing to royalty, draws a concealed smallsword when he [[spoiler: kills Blind Mag]]. No one else uses such a weapon, and the sword is never seen again.

* [[ShutUpKiss Shut Up Compliment]]: A particularly famous (if failed) one in cut song Needle Through a Bug:

** [[spoiler: Many of Shilo's symptoms match mercury poisoning, which may offer some insight as to what was in her meds.]]

->''"So why care for these petty obsessions?''
->''Your designer heart still beats with common blood.''
->''And what if you could have genetic perfection?''
->''Would you change who you are, if you could?"''

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv9MESOwQUg "At the Opera Tonight"]] features Sarah Brightman in a hooded gown, walking through a graveyard with a bouquet of roses while singing. [[Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera That's certainly not]] [[https://youtu.be/7Z8bBQmbXRk familiar or anything, is it?]]

-->'''[=GraveRobber=]''': Z? ... First time's...free.

* AllPartOfTheShow: [[spoiler: Blind Mag's onstage death during the Genetic Opera, as well as the conflict between Nathan, Shilo, and Rotti.]] Heck, pretty much everything that happens in the Genetic Opera can fall under this trope. Indeed, the announcer at the the opera actually uses these exact words while calming the audience.

* AtTheOperaTonight: TropeNamer. There are several performances at the in-story opera, but only two of them are plot-relevant: Blind Mag's farewell performance, and Amber's song [[spoiler:during which her face comes off about ten seconds in before she's booed off.]] Much more important are the things going on backstage.

* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' mess with the Repo Man's [[spoiler: daughter]]. Also, do ''NOT'' offer Luigi decaf coffee. ...or regular coffee. [[HairTriggerTemper Actually, just stay away from him.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: Nathan]]'s song ''Let the Monster Rise''.

* BittersweetEnding: Though [[spoiler: Nathan dies, Shilo is now free from her captivity.]]

* BladeBelowTheShoulder: [[spoiler: Luigi]] has a small hidden one that he uses to stab [[spoiler:Nathan]] in the finale.

* BrokenAesop:
** If you think the aesop is ScrewDestiny, you probably think it's broken on account of [[spoiler: Shilo's father leaving her alone, with nothing, unprepared for living on her own in the CrapsackWorld.]] If you think the aesop is "megacorporations rule the world" or "always read the fine print," it's not broken.
** It could also be taken as a line from Graverobber in "21st Century Cure":
--->"Would you change who you are if you could?"
** Or it could be a metaphor against too much plastic surgery. You could go many ways with this.

--->'''Pavi''': My brother and sister should fuck!\\
'''Luigi''': [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Pavi, shut the fuck up!]]

''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' is a 2008 rock opera/cult film. It's written and composed by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith, and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (of ''Film/SawII, [[Film/SawIII III]],'' ''[[Film/SawIV IV]]'' and ''Film/Spiral2021'' fame). The film is based on their 2002 play of the same name. It's a gory, dystopian and ultimately very moving BlackComedy that never takes itself ''too'' seriously. Widely known and loved for its WTHCastingAgency (see below) and its lush soundtrack, the film has become a modern cult classic. It's also an ''actual'' opera: nearly every line of dialogue is sung, and the story is one continuous musical number.

Brought to you by the WTHCastingAgency, it stars:

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Film/TheDevilsCarnival'', a short musical made by Bousman and Zdunich with several ''Repo!'' cast members returning.

* NecessaryEvil: Rotti implies at one point that [=GeneCo=] has become such an intrinsic part of society that when it falls for lack of his leadership, it may take the whole world with it. [[spoiler: Since Amber takes over after him and presumably keeps the company afloat, we never find out if he was right.]]

* ArtShift: Some flashbacks are told in the form of a comic book rather than live action. It's partly for aesthetics and partly because the movie didn't have enough of a budget to shoot those scenes.
** Which were done by Terrance Zdunich himself, he's an [[TheCastShowOff avid comicbook artist and writer]].

-->'''Gaverobber:''' You're beautiful. It's easy.\\

* SuddenlyShouting: The Graverobber. It's his job....to steal and rob.....GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVEEESSS!!!!

* TelevisuallyTransmittedDisease: A rather spectacular case of [[spoiler: Munchausen by proxy]] afflicting [[spoiler: Nathan via Shilo]], made an even more intense TTD because it originally looks like a TTD version of [spoiler: porphyria, hereditary anemia, congenital heart disease, or a rare immunodeficiency]].

* OverprotectiveDad: Nathan takes this to some scary extremes with Shilo.

* InadequateInheritor: Pavi, Luigi, and Amber, according to Rotti.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Rotti Largo.

* OutDamnedSpot: Nathan is very good at his job, and even enjoys it to some extent, which brings on bouts of this, especially when combined with guilt trips from Dead Marni and taunting from the Genterns.

** Also, Pavi's Genterns.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Partial example.

At the heart of the story is Shilo Wallace, a 17-year-old girl with a [[SoapOperaDisease rare blood disease.]] Shilo has been kept locked up and protected in her house, where she's guarded from the outside world by her father, [[OverprotectiveDad Nathan Wallace]]. While Shilo struggles with her wish to leave the house and experience the outside world, Nathan struggles with his secret job as a Repo Man, and more specifically, his next target, a woman named Blind Mag. Blind Mag, an opera singer bound by contract to [=GeneCo=], was a friend of Nathan's now-deceased wife, and is Shilo's godmother.

At the heart of the story is [[IllGirl Shilo Wallace]], a 17-year-old girl with a [[SoapOperaDisease rare blood disease.]] Shilo has been kept locked up and protected in her house, where she's guarded from the outside world by her father, [[OverprotectiveDad Nathan Wallace]]. While Shilo struggles with her wish to leave the house and experience the outside world, Nathan struggles with his secret job as a Repo Man, and more specifically, his next target, a woman named Blind Mag. Blind Mag, an opera singer bound by contract to [=GeneCo=], was a friend of Nathan's now-deceased wife, and is Shilo's godmother.

* Creator/AlexaVega as [[IllGirl Shilo Wallace]], a rebellious teenager confined to her room due to [[SoapOperaDisease the blood disorder]] she inherited from her mother.

* BaldnessMeansSickness: Early on we see Shilo is completely bald, showing her as an IllGirl suffering from a mysterious blood disease that killed her mother; she spends most of the movie wearing a long wig. Subverted when [[spoiler:her mother is revealed to have been murdered and her father has been faking her illness to protect her from the CrapsackWorld outside.]]

* IllGirl: Shilo, continuing the proud tradition of Marni (dead before the story starts) and Blind Mag (cured, at least temporarily.) [[spoiler:Or at least, so it seems. Nathan's actually been poisoning Shilo to keep her with him after her mother died.]]