Synopsis

In a future society where genetic screening determines social status and career opportunities, Vincent Freeman is classified as an "In-Valid" because he was born naturally. Determined to become a space navigator, he assumes the identity of a genetically superior man and enters the elite Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. As Vincent nears his dream, a murder investigation threatens to expose his deception.

Factoids & Trivia

• The title "Gattaca" is formed entirely from the letters used for DNA's four nucleotide bases: guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine.

• The production was filmed under the working title "The Eighth Day." The title was changed after a Belgian film using that name reached the United States.

• The Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, serves as the exterior and partial interior of the Gattaca complex.

• Other recognizable locations include the Sepulveda Dam, Los Angeles City Hall, the Forum in Inglewood, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

• Announcements heard inside the Gattaca complex are delivered in both English and Esperanto, reinforcing the film's vision of an internationally unified future.

• The film's retro-futurist design uses modified 1960s automobiles rather than entirely futuristic vehicles, giving the setting a deliberately familiar but altered appearance.

• The opening title sequence shows bodily debris being scrubbed away. Oversized models of fingernails and hair were created to make the material visible in close-up.

• Production took place from April 22 through July 16, 1996, ahead of the film's U.S. theatrical release on October 24, 1997.

• Michael Nyman composed the score, whose restrained, recurring motifs complement the film's formal architecture and controlled atmosphere.