In Vitro - Expect the unexpected

In Vitro a 2024 Australian sci-fi thriller to be released by Plaion Pictures across UK digital platforms from Monday 15 September 2025. The film previously had its UK Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival. 

Review by Rob Tysall

In Vitro is written by Will Howarth, Tom McKeith & Talia Zucker and directed by Will Howarth & Tom McKeith. Howarth makes his feature-length directorial debut with this film and also plays the character Brady – a hired help on the cattle farm run by Jack (Ashley Zukerman) and his wife Layla (Talia Zucker).

I felt that the beginning was a bit slow, but don’t let that put you off as it has a clever enough storyline to win you over. The setting is a remote and isolated Australian cattle farm. Owner Jack, his wife Layla and their dog are the only inhabitants - their son, Toby, is away at boarding school and Layla misses him badly. The atmosphere from the very start feels brooding and heavy. You get the feeling that a storm is brewing – in more ways than one.

Talia Zucker as Layla.

Conversation between Jack and Layla is sparse and the tension from the start is bubbling just under the surface. Nevertheless, you soon come to realise that their cattle farm is not a normal farm. There are huge circular water tanks with something seemingly alive beneath the waterline. The noises that come from the machinery are weird and unearthly, and the close ups on Layla give you the feeling that something is about to leap out and grab her at any second. I don’t want to give the plot away, but the title In Vitro is an appropriate one.

Despite the lack of conversation, you soon learn that Jack is experimenting with biotechnology and has developed a way of providing beef for the expanding world population that’s based around a secret futuristic method – one that he would prefer to keep under wraps although important enough to make the newspapers, although they don't realise how far he's taking his experimentation.

Ashley Zukerman as Jack.

While Layla understands his methods with the cattle, you get the feeling that Jack believes he is the ‘brains’ behind the business and she is merely the ‘little woman’. Yet far from this being the truth, Layla is a very capable, strong, independent woman who meets every kind of threat, danger and obstacle head on. An ‘Aliens’ Ripley type of character if ever I saw one!

The problems on the farm seem to be getting worse – as does the weather. No internet signal, their car won’t start, and then there seems like someone is creeping around just out of sight. On top of this, Jack tells Layla that the business is failing, and she can see for herself that the cows are becoming sick and are dying. That however is just the start of their problems.

Jack (Ashley Zuckerman) and Layla (Talia Zucker)

The film is about failure and betrayal, but who has failed, and who has betrayed who, is for you to decide, you may come up with a different opinion. Throughout, there’s plenty of suspense and twists and turns.  You think you’ve got it figured out and then something else unexpected happens.

It’s a clever storyline – the concept is something I’ve seen before, and it gives rise to quite a few questions and discussion points after it ends, but those aside, In Vitro brings enough atmosphere and suspense to keep you watching – and enjoying.

In Vitro written by Will Howarth, Tom McKeith & Talia Zucker. Directed by Will Howarth & Tom McKeith. Starring Talia Zucker, Ashley Zukerman and  Will Howarth.  UK Digital Release from Monday 15 September. Run Time: 89 Minutes. Cert: 15.