AfrAId

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.

I was constipating a Alexa or Google movie that would make me think about the risks and benefits of Artificial intelligence. Instead I got a slow movie, whose first half was some interested but it fell apart in the second half, and the ending was just.plain.stupid. This screen play was horrible and actually insulting to anyone with half an ounce of intelligence. A completely lost opportunity to say something provocative about AI. The movie has a great premise but is not directed or scripted with an invigorating tone. Sloppily edited, it often seems as if important narrative information has been left on the cutting room floor. What should be a psychological terror is simply nap-inducing here.

I just got out of AfrAid.

I'd never heard of this movie. Directed by Chris Weitz and starring a solid cast of John Cho, Katherine Waterstone, Lukita Maxwell and Keith Carredine.

It's a bit typical of the rogue AI storyline, AI is introduced into family home, movie does a good job of showing how AI makes life convenient for the family, then AI starts to become too real etc. It's totally predictable, but thanks to the cast, I enjoyed it.

This isn't really a horror, despite some out of place jump scares, that really didn't need to be there. The movie was at its best when it was dealing with technology that is out there, already. Like the deep fake, stuff. That was when it was most interesting.

I think there is a much longer version of this movie out there, as things are just glossed over and there is a huge plot point, that just is forgotten about. It is really short too. It started at 14:40 and I was out of the cinema by 15:55

There were 7 other people in my screening.

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.

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.