You might want to think twice before biting into that juicy red tomato glistening attractively on your salad plate. Instead, chuck it at this maddeningly didactic documentary, which takes a nexus of complex agricultural, biological and sociological issues and flattens them into a "science is bad, nature is good" argument so simplistic it verges on condescending. Intended as a sort of Bowling for Columbine about biotech, the film plays heavily on emotion—languid shots of golden-hued crop fields are set to lilting traditional music, while images of beakers and test tubes are scored with ominous sci-fi sounds. But there's never an explanation of why this technology is dangerous or an admission that a counterargument to that claim even exists.

Trapped in this hectoring morass, though, are some compelling points: an exposé of the bullying tactics of giant agribusinesses like Monsanto and a discussion of the legal and ethical ramifications of patent law as it pertains to genetically modified organisms. Monsanto, for example, holds the patent for a number of modified corn strains. Should these crops show up in a small farmer's field, regardless of whether the farmer planted them or the seeds were carried by the wind, the farmer would be liable for patent infringement. Too bad this discussion never receives director Deborah Koons Garcia's full attention. Sadly, she's too busy with mushy-headed fearmongering.—Alison Rosen