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After the discovery of in-valid DNA at the crime scene, the police analyze it and pull up the profile (including biography) of

Vincent Freeman.

Later in the movie it is revealed that one of the detectives on the case is

Anton Freeman, Vincent's brother.

Obviously he knew this all along, but how did the other detective (and everybody else) working on the case miss it?

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  • great question, I've asked that myself several times.
    – giorgian
    Commented Feb 24, 2014 at 14:32

5 Answers 5

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The other detective (Hugo) figures it out in a deleted scene:

Hugo: It seems you and the eyelash share something in common. Not much, but enough to establish a rather damaging connection. I should have turned you in, sir, I really should, but I guess pity's clouded my better judgment. One of my many, many failings. That's probably why I'm only a detective second class.

This also strongly implies that Hugo has been passed over for promotion because he is a natural. Depending on how you interpret the scene he may even want to blackmail Anton to get that promotion.

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As I recall there are no overt indications, but from the point of view of most Valids the Invalids are not really people at all, so it may not occur to them that the highly competent detective they know could possibly be related to a non-person at all.

We can presume that Antonio doesn't talk about his brother the Invalid, and the name is not an uncommon one.

Antonio presumably keeps his mouth shut because being known to be related to a Invalid won't do him any good, and stays on the case in order to keep his options open. Maybe even to try to give Vincent a break some how.

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  • This is correct, Antonio keeps the information to himself and no one else would think that Antonio would be related to what amounts to human garbage in their eyes.
    – Nathan C. Tresch
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 5:22
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    The only part I don't buy is that nobody else could figure it out on their own by just reading the profile of the guy they are looking for. "Hey, it says here he's got a brother who's a cop! And he looks just like you and has the same name, but for some reason you didn't mention it. Must be coincidence."
    – Alistair Buxton
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 6:32
  • @AlistairBuxton Well yeah, that's kinda the point :) - if you're used to everything coming easy, you won't put in the effort to be truly great. That's why the detective swam back, instead of forging on like his brother.
    – Tacroy
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 2:03
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    I always figured the older but lower-rank detective was a natural who was grandfathered in - they couldn't fire him, instead they just stopped promoting him, which is why he is "junior" to the much younger Anton. His apparent hate for in-valids can then be explained by him blaming "troublemaking in-valids" for his current situation. That's pure speculation of course but it makes these "well, they have it so easy, they are just lazy" explanations not sit right with me, since he doesn't appear to have it particularly easy. Anyway, I forgot about this question for ages, so accepting your answer.
    – Alistair Buxton
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 1:18
  • The detective's name is Anton. His father was Antonio.
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 25 at 22:22
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Technically, Vincent wasn't unregistered per se. As Vincent Freeman, he was registered legally. He had worked at GATTACA as a janitor, so finding his DNA there wasn't entirely unusual.

But I realize that isn't your question. I agree with dmckee that there are probably multiple reasons why people never put two and two together.

  • We know that Vincent isn't in touch with his family. There's no evidence to suggest that they exchange Christmas cards, for example. Additionally, if he's living as Jerome then it would look suspicious if he's hanging out with a family Jerome's not associated with.
  • Given how in-valids are treated, it's reasonable to assume that having one in your family (if you are a valid) is sort of like having that uncle that's in and out of prison all the time. No one really talks about them.
  • Vincent doesn't really look that much like Anton. He wears glasses, he's shorter.
  • How much background information do they really keep on in-valids--especially one who hasn't been in trouble with the law and has more or less kept himself off the radar?
  • Even if someone did bother to look, they would probably think, "No way does he have an in-valid brother!"
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  • Anton tells Vincent 'Our parents both died thinking they had outlived you', so no family to contact (and the fact that Vincent didn't know that suggests he had not contacted them since he had left home. Also, while Vincent's DNA is in the police system, he might not be 'registered'. When Anton is frustrated with the locations of Hugo's searches, he says 'He's an In-Valid who's been clever enough to go unregistered all these years, you think he's going to lie down for us now?'
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 25 at 22:05
  • Either Vincent just disappeared from the system at some point (stopped registering with the government), or Anton is lying
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 25 at 22:05
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Anton is restricting access to this information

As the lead detective in charge of the investigation, Anton is deliberately making sure that no one makes this connection.

At one point junior detective Hugo asks Anton, 'What do we know about the eyelash, sir? Any family?' and Anton responds, 'I've already run the analysis - no living relatives.' [quotes approximate, from memory]. Anton is of course lying about Vincent not having relatives, so having 'already run' the analysis and explicitly shutting down Hugo's line of questioning implies that he is making sure others do not have access to this information. If he can control what the team working for him has access to, no one outside his team would have access to the names of suspects or the identities of samples.

Anton's control of the investigation is shown in a physical metaphor at the club, when another detective tries to collect the pill case on the table. Anton grabs his arm forcefully, preventing the detective from picking up the case, and then he takes it himself. These pills are Irene's heart medicine, but Anton actually thinks that it is Vincent's, since Vincent has a heart condition. Anton doesn't want to let anyone on the team collect any evidence about Vincent if he can help it.

In a later scene Anton is flipping back and forth between pictures of old Vincent and new Vincent-as-Jerome on a computer screen; he by now suspects that Vincent is using the identity of Jerome (but probably doesn't believe that he is physically impersonating him at work; perhaps it is just fraud or identity theft). Hugo walks in on him and says 'Isn't that the man from last night?' (when Vincent fled from them at the club) and Anton immediately shuts off the display and says 'He's no one'. It is clear that as much as he is trying to find Vincent, Anton is also making sure that no one else finds Vincent (or makes the connection to him), and he is deliberately blocking his team's access to crucial information.

Then, when Anton agrees to meet Vincent at Gattaca, he comes alone and tells Vincent that 'You're in a lot of trouble; I can get you out of here." Clearly he has not told his team about this meeting (they are all off celebrating the confession of the Director) and his goal is to remove Vincent from Gattaca without anyone on the police force understanding the connection between them.

Finally, in the deleted scene described by ssss, Hugo confronts Anton and explains that he has figured out the connection despite Anton's attempts to hide it.

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  • I fully accept that Anton is trying to hide it, I just have a hard time believing he could be successful given the surveillance-dystopia setting. Even Vincent's own deception turns out to have never been as effective as we thought in the end, but this never seems to come up for Anton, outside the deleted scene.
    – Alistair Buxton
    Commented May 9 at 7:47
  • @AlistairBuxton This is a dystopia, but it is only a surveillance dystopia in as much as there is the constant checking of biometrics - individual identity and performance. It is not, say, an electronic surveillance dystopia - apparently there are is no security camera footage for the inspectors to check, just an "entry log" of who comes and goes from the building. The scene between Irene and the Director sets up power dynamics - "But my work, this will put me behind!" "Your place is assured". Most people don't dare question or even less defy their superiors, for fear of being assessed...
    – Kirt
    Commented May 9 at 15:10
  • ...as difficult or rebellious. No one else on the investigating team would dare pursue an avenue that Anton was clearly trying to block. Only Hugo, with decades more experience than Anton and as an In-Valid with no further chance of promotion, would publicly challenge his judgement and privately look into something Anton is blocking - and doing so, is successful (in the deleted scene) at finding what he is hiding. Everyone else on the force is even lower in the hierarchy - they wouldn't stick their necks out. Anton is relying on no one challenging him - and one reason he is so angry...
    – Kirt
    Commented May 9 at 15:14
  • ...at Vincent is that Vincent dares to defy him.
    – Kirt
    Commented May 9 at 15:17
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Also, Anton was the head detective on the scene, he was the Valid, he obviously controlled the direction of the investigation, he might have been able to restrict access to those kinds of records.

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  • Although that's true, there doesn't seem to be any indication that this is actually the case
    – Valorum
    Commented Feb 20, 2019 at 22:53
  • @Valorum At one point Hugo asks Anton, 'What do we know about the eyelash, sir? Any family?' and Anton responds, 'I've already run the analysis - no living relatives.' [quotes approximate, from memory]. Anton is explicitly lying about Vincent not having relatives, so having 'already run' the analysis and explicitly shutting down Hugo's line of questioning I think it is implied that he is making sure others do not have access to this information.
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 25 at 21:54
  • @Valorum There is also the scene where he is flipping back and forth between pictures of old Vincent and new Vincent-as-Jerome on a computer screen. Hugo walks in on him and says 'Isn't that the man from last night?' (when Vincent fled them from the club) and Anton immediately shuts of the display and says 'He's no one'. I think it is clear that as much as he is trying to find Vincent, Anton is also making sure that no one else finds Vincent (or makes the connection to him).
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 25 at 21:57

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