Archive

As a sci-fi fan, I found this admittedly derivative film extremely enjoyable. It is stylishly shot, directed and acted with aplomb by the attractive and enigmatic leads of Theo James and Stacy Martin. Indeed, the latter is well cast in her role who is both ambiguous, childlike and yet empathetic all at the same time. The wonderful Toby Jones also turns up in an extended cameo just to give it that bit extra. If you want wham, bang, action this is definitely not for you. However, if you enjoy psychological, moody sci-fi with stunning visuals then there is much you will enjoy. It is very 'Twilight Zone' with an ending I didn't anticipate.

I was just going to let this pass by, untill reading an interview with the director. Which drove me to this.

First the good. Slow burning but not too slow, good cinematography, decent acting. The robots J1 and J2 are excellent. Character development in the first 2/3rd's is good. The last 3rd let's it down, the shock ending is anything but a shock and simply burns the first parts down. I think the Toby Jones scene finished it for me in retrospect. Nothing to do with his performance which is great work as always, but it demonstrates the lack of closure the film winds up at by pulling the same tired twist as other, better works.

Hint. When being interviewed about your tripe filled film that ends with a tried and tested one, don't tell us you burned all the usual tropes in your search for originality.

A pity, as the emotional nuances provided by the bots ARE really good, it deserved a more eloquent ending to match the set up, which is done well. A solid 7.5.

Essentially a long episode of black mirror so not a bad thing, a nice sharp pair of scissors in the director's hands would have been a good thing. Santa Claus are you listening? Well, next time.

Good acting, metaphors, twists, turns, etc. Note that the robots he's built are all ersatz wives.....

This was quite a well done movie. These days most movies you know where theyre going long before they get there. I thought I had this one pegged thru out but it kept coming up with surprises. These days they dumb down a lot of movies so everyone in the audience gets the story but that tends to let you guess the end long before you get there. Im happy to say not this one. Everytime you think its going to be this type of movie it turns into another type and that continues until the surprising ending which the film gives nothing away about until the last couple of minutes. Great acting great cinematography. Definitely worth a watch through. Enjoy

If I would compare it to an other movie, it would be a spoiler. Then again, once you've seen it, maybe I gave you a hint with what I just wrote. Or maybe I didn't (but I probably did, didn't I?). That aside, because I don't want to spoil anything, if you are into Science Fiction movies, you may like this. It has very good visuals and while I wouldn't call myself a Theo James fan (more a Stacy Martin fan), he does a really good job.

There is tension there are questions ... and there are themes that some might have resolved otherwise. But it does make sense overall. And while you could question everything in the end, you could also just take it with a grain of salt. And just accept that some things, possible in reality or not, just make sense in the overall world of the movie. So it is coherent and well thought of, but even that does not mean you will like it