r. Toshiaki Nagashima (Mikami) has spent his career studying mitochondria and believes that, in time, transplanting healthy versions of these energy-producing organelles into diseased cells will help eliminate such maladies as diabetes and cirrhosis. Although his research has thus far involved only culturing tissue samples from rats, the sudden death of his wife, Kiyomi (Hazuki), in a car crash affords him an unexpected opportunity to advance his investigation.
In exchange for his spouse's liver, which he takes back to his lab for further experimentation, Nagashima grants permission for her kidney to be transplanted into 12-year-old Mariko Anzai (Omura). However, almost immediately after the surgery, the young girl begins exhibiting strange complications. The mitochondria in her new organ are larger and more abundant than expected, and she experiences excruciating abdominal pains. At the same time, the various cultures the scientist has created from
Kiyomi's liver start to coalesce, becoming sentient and escaping from a refrigerated storage unit into the laboratory's plumbing system.
Later that night, while Nagashima's assistant Sawako Asakura (Nakajima) is preparing for a lecture she's scheduled to give the next day at a prestigious conference, she is possessed by the strange entity. When she takes the stage the following morning, Asakura announces that, after eons living as
a parasitic life form, mitochondria have finally evolved and are now ready to replace human beings as the predominant creatures on the planet. Nagashima realizes that his work was instrumental in unleashing the long-dormant organisms, but isn't sure what role his late wife—or the still-suffering Mariko—played in their development. But he soon uncovers the terrible connection, and, before long, finds himself engaged in a horrific conflict that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
Intriguing ideas, insipid execution
Like many inventive science-fiction adventures, Parasite Eve takes a legitimate scientific theory—in this case, the proposition that mitochondria are foreign bodies which have formed a symbiotic relationship with their cellular hosts—and carries it to a fantastical extreme. Unfortunately, overwrought acting, second-rate special effects and a flawed finale mar that core concept, resulting in an imperfect production that buries thought-provoking biological and evolutionary suppositions within an utterly outlandish storyline.
The picture's opening scenes are actually quite enticing, providing an appealing glimpse at Nagashima's dedication to and enthusiasm for his research and a somewhat simplified but engaging explanation of the true-life "Mitochondria Eve" hypothesis. In its liquid state, the creature also clearly simulates the "primordial ooze" from which all life on Earth emerged. The effect isn't entirely convincing, but it does subtly emphasize the notion that the mitochondrial threat has silently been present for billions of years—a vision that indirectly yet ingeniously alludes to perplexing modern-day viral scourges like AIDS.
Nonetheless, taken as a whole, the film remains disappointing. The plot initially indicates that Nagashima cares more about his research than his marriage, and his grief-stricken actions following Kiyomi's death are almost entirely contradictory to his earlier conduct. At the same time, a lengthy sequence near the beginning of the tale involving Asakura and a group of schoolchildren is downright ludicrous, and the movie's fiery conclusion, which takes place on the hospital's unbelievably ornate rooftop, is clichéd and overplayed. Parasite Eve showcases a few genuinely intriguing ideas, but both SF cinema fans and folks familiar with the video game of the same name—also loosely adapted from author Hideaki Sena's well-regarded novel—will be sorely disappointed.
