Anya (Okada and Taylor, USA, 2019)

On its surface, Anya is about that most topical of contemporary issues, genetic modification. Often films that engage that "ripped from the headlines" scenario have a sensationalist bent, as they are as much exploiting the issue as they are illuminating it.

Thankfully, Anya is not one of those films.  Rather, Anya is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of a complex and provocative contemporary issue. When a young couple, Libby (Ali Ahn) and Marco (Gil Perez-Abraham) is unable to have a child, they seek the help of geneticist Dr. Seymour Livingston (the name is a bit on the nose) to determine if the cause of their infertility is a curse passed down to Marco by his immigrant community to those who marry "outside the fold." When Livingston (Motell Gyn Foster) discovers Marco has a genetic anomaly that makes it impossible for he and Libby to have children, they are faced with the ethical dilemma of whether and how to resolve this problem.

Placing people at the forefront of the hot button topic is vital to the film's ability to engage the audience. We care about these people, so their struggle with the decision of what to do next is real, not some abstraction. The performances of the three key players, low key and naturalistic, are uniformly excellent. The approach of the filmmakers, led by real life couple Jacob Akira Okada and Carylanna Taylor, focuses on the human drama as much as the ethical one. Their decision to present this documentary style, as a slice of life, is wise, as the emotional impact on the audience is decidedly enhanced. Further deepening matters, the film operates as a cutting-edge study of the modern science splicing, but also functions effectively as an examination of the immigrant experience, and the emotional challenge of remaining unassimilated and feeling like an alien in your adopted home. 

Anya's score is terrific, leading us through some of the film's occasional tonal shifts, for this is not a uniformly somber affair. Moments of humour and romance are allowed, and well-supported by the score.

Anya may be small in budget, but it is big in humanity, intelligence and emotional impact.