Film & Literature
Designed Futurity and Ethical Closure in Gattaca
Volume / Issue
Vol. 17, Issue 1 · February 2026
Pages
790-801
Article ID
2026V17N1059
Abstract
Science fiction frequently critiques systems that organise life through prediction and control, yet such critique does not always culminate in structural transformation. This article examines the film Gattaca (1997) as a narrative that exposes the ethical limitations of genetic determinism while simultaneously containing that critique through its resolution. The film reveals how futures are allocated through biological prediction, misrecognising human capacity and foreclosing opportunity, yet ultimately resolves ethical disturbance at the level of individual exception rather than institutional change. Drawing on Frank Kermode’s account of narrative endings and concordance, the article argues that Gattaca achieves ethical closure by aligning aspiration with achievement and rendering injustice intelligible without demanding structural revision. In doing so, the film stabilises a designed future by rendering ethical critique legible rather than transformative.
Keywords
GattacaDesigned FuturityEthical ClosureGenetic DeterminismBiopolitics
Article History
Received
22-01-2026
Accepted
16 February 2026
Published Online
3 February 2026
Full Text
How to Cite
Aparna. M. “Designed Futurity and Ethical Closure in Gattaca.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2026, pp. 790-801. ISSN: 0976-8165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n1.54

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