The nifty little thriller "Closer to God" tells the what-if story of the first human cloning and its fraught aftermath. With admirable economy, writer-director Billy Senese has crafted an eerie piece that's as much an effective cautionary tale as it is a stirring film of ideas — and ideals.
A kind of modern-day "Frankenstein" infused with a David Cronenberg-like chilliness, the movie tracks the efforts of Dr. Victor Reed (Jeremy Childs), a biological scientist who has secretly cloned a baby he names Elizabeth.
The landmark experiment proves a cable news bonanza as well as a magnet for protests from the don't-mess-with-nature crowd.