Mirrored

I have this tendency to compare sci-fi shorts to The Twilight Zone. To me, it’s a high honor if I have to go there. To you, I’m sure it will become cliched over time. Bradford Hill and Andrew M. Henderson’s Mirrored is a sci-fi short that I’m going to compare to The Twilight Zone. It takes the idea of cloning and mind transfer, and while it has a thriller element to it, it has something to say about the human condition.

Mirrored opens in a futuristic genetics laboratory. 3D printers form a living human body, and then a recorded “soul” is downloaded into the body’s brain. As soon as the opening title sequence ends, the newly created Michael Kraten (Graham Sibley) awakens for the first time. Michael walks around the enclosed room switching the images that appear in the room’s “windows.”

“…he is a clone of the original Michael Kraten, who recently passed away.”

Entering the room is Dr. Nichols (Paul Tigue), who’s job it is to inform Michael that he is a clone of the original Michael Kraten, who recently passed away. It was Kraten’s family, who had him rebuilt. But there’s a problem. Instead of downloading the original Michael’s soul and memories into his body, it was “evil” billionaire Derek Krat’s (Brian Gant) soul and memories installed instead. Complicating things further, Derek Krat is still alive and wants the new Michael/Derek clone terminated. Also, entering the picture is Michael’s attractive sister Katherine (Anita Leeman), who visits her new brother with the wrong person put inside.

It’s here where Mirrored goes full-blown Twilight Zone. Is the new Michael, really Micheal, or is he Derek? Does the clone have the right to live? Is killing a clone murder? Can the clone with the wrong brain, get it on with the body’s attractive sister? (I added that one). The film presents these questions, and “answers” them in a way to provoke more conversation.

Mirrored is a fantastic overall sci-fi short with good CG-effects, a laboratory that looks like a lab, a human problem to explore, a low-budget action sequence that fits the story and builds hopeful, yet sinister, future world for humanity. Filmmakers Hill and Henderson’s short is a strong entry into the sci-fi genre and worth a watch.