Physiological backup, obedient servant, an extra set of hands, and healthy competition. Multi-tasking could be taken to the limit if you had a well-behaved clone. As Harry Frishberg’s comedy short “Clones Gone Wild” elucidates, however, sometimes it’s better not to have genetic xeroxes running around. Co-written by and starring Chad Mathews and Gary Weeks, this zany indie treat, which will screen at the Rockport Film Festival, does not concern itself with explaining why cloning turned into a scientifically based trend. The fact of the matter is simply that clones exist. And, many of them have rebelled against their source material. Whatever pandemonium that would have swept across the nation has been dealt with off-camera; kill your clone before it kills you.
Living in this clone-crazy world is Ben (Mathews), who finds out that he has a duplicate…a much cooler one. Ben experiences a mixture of inferiority and admiration for his clone, Dulce, and arranges to meet him. His friends (Philip Boyd, Gary Weeks, Mike Iorio) and therapist (Emily – Grace Murray) recommend clone-termination — if you can’t control ‘em, take ‘em out. Determined to heed his friends’ advice, Ben arms himself with a vial of deadly black pepper when he has dinner with Dulce. Question: what will he do?
Running under twenty minutes, “Clones Gone Wild” packs an acerbic and goofy punch. So what if it leaves out how it’s possible for Ben not to know he has a clone. One can hope for a prequel.
