Claim: Ethan Hawke acts.

Gattaca is a 1997 American science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol . It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman , with Jude Law , Loren Dean , Ernest Borgnine , Gore Vidal , and Alan Arkin appearing in supporting roles . The film presents a biopunk vision of a future society driven by eugenics where potential children are conceived through genetic manipulation to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents . The film centers on Vincent Freeman , played by Hawke , who was conceived outside the eugenics program and struggles to overcome genetic discrimination to realize his dream of traveling into space .   The movie draws on concerns over reproductive technologies which facilitate eugenics , and the possible consequences of such technological developments for society . It also explores the idea of destiny and the ways in which it can and does govern lives . Characters in Gattaca continually battle both with society and with themselves to find their place in the world and who they are destined to be according to their genes .   The film 's title is based on the first letters of guanine , adenine , thymine , and cytosine , the four nucleobases of DNA . It was a 1997 nominee for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score .   The film flopped at the box office , but it received generally positive reviews and has since gained a cult following .