Das Haus

(2021) The House/ Das Haus (In German with English subtitles) SCIENCE FICTION POLITICAL THRILLER

Adapted from the short story by Dirk Kurbjuweit, co-written and directed by Rick Ostermann that has husband, Johann Hellström (Tobias Moretti) and his wife, Lucia Hellström (Valery Tscheplanowa) just arriving to their home located at an isolated island, And what is unique about the home is that it does things by command, simply by talking to it, in the same tradition as HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey". In the midst of all of this is some militia group clashing with the gov't in regarding of a terrorist act. And it is presumed that it was a young couple by the names of Layla (Lisa Vicari) and her boyfriend, Alex (Max von der Groeben) who committed the act, except that by the time they arrive they denied they even did any such thing.

A little of "Demon Seed", "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "Forbidden Planet" with no new surprises.

The opening scenes are the house becoming awake, with vacuums being sent out, drapes opening, etc. Johann, who wrote a political piece is in trouble. The government didn't like it, and so he gets fired. The government is heading into an election, and is getting very repressive. Johann and Lucia travel by autonomous water taxi to the house, which is on an island. The house responds to Johann, knowing where he is, what he wants, etc. So he doesn't even have to open a door. Water in the shower can be controlled through verbal commands. Even a glass of water is tailored to the person, with supplements. There is a glitch, and a technician is summoned, and he explains the system cannot be hacked, as it is isolated. The system is represented as a red sphere, perhaps an homage to the HAL computer. But is was set up for Johann, so it knows him, but he didn't include Lucia, so the house is learning about her. And something happens that Lucia was aware of, but Johann was in the dark, and that is part of the drama. The house is very interesting in itself. The movie is somewhat interesting, but very forgettable.

"The house is creepy," was Lucia's comment to her husband. She was convinced that the house was out to get her. The house actually was creepy. It was an AI controlled house that Johann had built. He explained to Lucia that the house didn't dislike her - it just knew him better and it would get to know her. That's all in the first few scenes and so you think that you're being set up for a sci-fi/thriller kind of movie about a smart house gone mad. But that's really not the point of the movie at all. The house is just a backdrop to what turns out to be more of a political thriller instead.

It's set in Germany in the not too distant future (2029) - which gives this a sense of immediacy and, therefore, of credibility. (It's also a German movie - I watched a version with German audio and English subtitles.) Germany has been moving to the right and a far right group is expected to win an upcoming election. But there already seems to be a kind of neo-fascist state developing. Dissent isn't tolerated. Johann has lost his job as a writer for being critical of the government. Lucia is a lawyer who's defended dissidents. They're both potential targets. This smart house (on an isolated island) is their refuge. But is it a place of refuge or danger?

The weaving of the AI storyline with the political is interesting because it gives the movie two current and very real fears to use as a hook - the fear of AI gone wild and the fear of the rise of the far right, which does seem to be happening throughout the western world. Having these combined into a single movie says to me that this should have been better than it turned out to be. The house was a backdrop more than anything - remembered mostly for its camera (a black dot surrounded by red that to me had a very "1984" Big Brother feel to it.) And while I understood the political warning of the film I would have liked more of a depiction of what kind of society was developing in Germany. Instead, the setting of the movie was almost completely the house, except for an opening scene in Johann's workplace. A look at the outside to get a clearer picture of what was going on would have been appreciated.

The movie is lacking in colour (almost everything except the red eye of the camera) seems to be white or grey - deliberately I'm sure giving the impression of a sterile and bland and passionless society. And, really, that's my feeling about the movie as a whole. It's not bad, but it had the potential to be more than that. (6/10)