There’s an ongoing argument that runs through much of the movie Morgan. Should the title character, a tomboyish slip of a thing in an ever-present hoodie, be referred to as a “she” or an “it”?
Living in a glassed-in cage, on the other side of which Morgan’s keepers monitor their young charge — only occasionally entering the cell for a brief interview — the movie’s apparently teenage protagonist opens the story with a jolt: by stabbing this odd little zoo’s nutritionist (an under-utilized Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the eye.
“Why the heck did she/it do that?” is the film’s central mystery. Along with that enigma, the murkiness surrounding the gender and provenance of Morgan (played by the otherworldly Anya Taylor-Joy of The Witch) animates the first act of this sci-fi thriller.
All too soon, however, the movie abandons that line of inquiry for a far less fruitful and challenging narrative. A ruthless consultant from the research corporation that has bred Morgan from synthetic DNA — proceeds to investigate the cause of the stabbing incident and the “viability” of the firm’s “asset.”
The troubleshooter, played by Kate Mara, mostly bides her time as a chain of bad decisions unspools, starting with allowing a shrink (Paul Giamatti) to interview Morgan. And by “interview,” I mean bait and taunt. The malpractice session ends way before Morgan’s 50 minutes are up, and it ain’t pretty.
But just when you might be getting ready to write off Morgan for its lack of curiosity about the implications of our post-human future there’s a twist that will either knock your socks off or telegraph its arrival long before it arrives.