The filmography of Keanu Reeves makes it clear that he’s a huge sci-fi fan, something the beloved actor is happy to admit. While he’s starred in some fantastic efforts set in the genre, his track record is a million miles away from being spotless when it comes to high concept ideas, futuristic settings and far-flung worlds.
The Bill & Ted trilogy, his three outings to date as Neo in The Matrix franchise, Johnny Mnemonic, Chain Reaction, Scott Derrickson’s The Day the Earth Stood Still remake and Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly all experienced wildly mixed critical and commercial results, but Replicas might just be the worst sci-fi movie Reeves has ever been a part of.
The action icon stars as neuroscientist William Foster, who loses his wife and three children in a car accident. Desperate to bring them back any way he can, he decides to clone their bodies and download their memories in the hopes of reuniting his family. Naturally, things go very wrong, and he finds himself dealing with his boss, a reluctant partner, the authorities and the laws of science all at once.
It’s far from the worst concept in the world, but the execution was way off. Not only did Replicas flop hard at the box office by recouping just over $9 million of a $30 million budget, but Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s second feature length directorial effort was panned in almost every review, and holds a weak Rotten Tomatoes score of 11%. However, people love Keanu Reeves, so it’s managed to rebound and become one of HBO Max’s ten most-watched titles, despite the fact it sucks.