Afraid

This is not a horror movie, even though the trailer makes it look like one. Yes, there are two or three short scenes (no jumpscares) that might qualify as "scary" for some people and could be part of one but in the end it's rather a thriller that's scary for a different reason: Because of the topics it addresses. A lot of what's shown in the movie is already reality: Deepfakes, smart homes and glitchy software. But what if AI was actively a part of all of that - and (ab)using it? This (and its consequences) could become reality within the next 10 or 20 years and that's the scary part.

The actors are doing a good job, which is what I'm used to from Cho, Waterston and Dastmalchian. The story is ... well, not actually that important, but it's able to get the movie's message across. The ending looks as if it's trying to set up a sequel, which is fine by me.

"AfrAId" is a solid movie that shows the dangers of AI - nothing I'd watch twice but entertaining enough for an evening.

I agree, AIA is not nearly here yet, but I've been in tech for over 40 years. Y2K never concerned me. This makes me shiver for my grand kids. At some point in your life time, this will be a reality.

Now, does this movie make that fact entertaining? Looking past the cheap jumps, and Alexa/Siri bashing, I think it does a decent job. What connects it to reality is that people are naive and technology is moving faster then it ever has and accelerating exponentially.

If you get past a little slow movement, and it's a pretty quick movie, the last 20 minutes is worth the wait. And the ending is uneasy enough to make a sequel something to think about.

Horror is not my genre. I do like Black Mirror and this is not that either. This is something to itself. It has some of the most impressive dialogue and premises followed by the most unimpressive. It's kind of like eating a secret flavored corn chip you can't quite place the flavor of, but can't stop eating.

Honestly, the entire story seems the most plausible way an AI would take over mankind. The twists were again...either impressive or...not...but the actors did a solid job and I found myself wondering "what if"?

What if they flushed out better plot beats?

What if the character motivations were more logical and coherent?

What if this was the AI masterpiece I've always hoped to watch?

I'm AfrAId all of those questions will remain suspended without closure.

If you're a fan of "AI gone rogue" movies, this won't show you much you haven't seen before. The AI (AIA) isn't very menacing, none of the leads ever feel like they're in real jeopardy. The acting wasn't stellar, but nobody embarrassed themselves, either. This would have been a really good made-for-TV flick. Personally, I enjoyed it, but I can see where those expecting a techno-thriller or a horror-gore fest will be disappointed. It's a nice little "what if" story that shows the effect of ever more intrusive technology on family life. See it without expecting the next big thing and I think you'll enjoy it.

I didn't expect too much from Afraid but it proved to be an entertaining watch provided you accept it for what it is - a brisk little AI related thriller and not heavy sci-fi.

John Cho and Katherine Waterston are fine actors who manage to portray a fairly believable family dynamic despite not having a whole lot to work with in terms of character detail or back story and the occasional moments of klunky dialogue. Between them they manage to lift proceedings where lesser actors would probably make this more likely to go straight to streaming or disc.

Where it does score is the undeniably creepy AI and the way it easily relates to the characters. Wisely it has a short running time so doesn't out stay its welcome.

It got me thinking about other recent AI or tech related movies like Megan, T. I. M and Kimi and if you liked any of these I reckon most would quite enjoy Afraid.

I was also thinking about House/Wife (previously known as Ivy), the movie Netflix completed but didn't release reportedly for tax reasons. Afraid did seem to feature a lot of this movie's reported plot details and it would have been fun to see just how many. Thanks Netflix.