Simulant

I really enjoyed this as it keeps you guessing right until the end. You are never quite sure how it it going to play out or how the characters will react to certain tense situations. It's well acted by all and feels like a possible future. It has a lot of soul considering it is a story about androids and AI.

The violence necessary to the story is blessedly kept to a minimum and there is very little gore, for a change. If you want an ultra noisy wham, slam, bang sort of film, then this one will disappoint you as it has rather a slow but very interesting plot development that is also a welcome change.

The lack of suspense in the narrative and the predictable unfolding of events make for an unenjoyable movie. The filmmakers attempt to explore profound questions regarding the relationship between humans and machines. However, the execution lacks any sense of creativity or enthusiasm. In the movie, all Simulates must obey four precepts: 1) Do not inflict harm on any human being. 2) Do not modify yourself or any other Simulate. 3) Do not commit crimes against international or local law. 4) Obey all commands from your masters. As soon as these rules are read out in the film, you know that they will be broken. All is too predictable. Even the A. I. is not worked out properly. The script, though, indeed looks like something that could be generated by ChatGPT. Simulant is naïve nonsense that asks, "What does it mean to be human?" and answers the question by changing the code of simulates and recommending them a Dostoevsky book! Literally! Do not waste your time. Skip this one.

The comparison to Blade Runner was going to be inevitable. Simulants are replicants, and they have become more advanced where self-awareness and autonomy are becoming a social problem, so an enforcement agency tracks down rogue simulants. Sound familiar? "More human than human" of the Tyrell Corporation is replaced with Nexxera's "simulants are as close to human as humanly possible". It would be generous to say this movie pays homage to the 1982 classic-there are plenty of easter eggs. This is, unfortunately, a Canadian low budget production that doesn't do it much justice.

Cast has many recognizable Canadian B actors, some regulars in the sci-fi scene. Of course, the most recognizable is Simu Liu of recent Marvel universe fame.

There are some salvageable aspects that explore bioethical issues we are at the cusp of having to address for real. But the movie lacks any subtlety in conveying the gravitas. The AI "precepts" are repeated multiple times to remind the audience, rather than work them into the screenplay, which to me is lazy writing. The "ominous" soundtrack plays on a loop throughout the movie, a poor attempt at creating tension and suspense. CGI is minimal, and the rest are making the most out of budget props and industrial locations.

I'm actually surprised this was picked up by HBO Max and not Syfy, where it's would find a more appropriate home and audience. It's not entirely unwatchable, if you adjust your expectations.

In the near future, mankind has been coexisting alongside AI, in the form of humanoid robots The Simulants, only their fate is changing, an uprising looks likely when The Simulants start breaking their four precepts.

I watched Blade Runner very recently, and as I watched this, I couldn't get it out of my mind, but sadly this film isn't a patch on it. Everything here has been done before, only much better.

Pacing was pretty slow, after an intriguing opening, it lulls badly in the middle, you're made to wait ages for more action sequences.

I didn't care for the visuals of The Simulants, they looked pretty cheap and nasty, like something from a low budget 1970's TV series.

The tech looks great, it's possibly the film's biggest strength, some great tunes, especially at the end, fortunately it's not a long film.

Some of the acting was ok, some was pretty average, Sam Worthington really did stand out, although he was a little wasted.

5/10.

Where do I begin. Well, for one thing, the acting and photography/coloring/effects is great. I don't always judge a movie by how it looks, but sometimes I do and I give this one extra points for looking very good. Every shot is spot-on and whoever was hired to do the job should get a raise. The sound quality was excellent and that person should also get a raise. This was of course made by HBO and they have enough money to to make a high quality film. That being said, the story is just not done right. I feel like whoever wrote the screenplay should have put more thought into it. Then again, I know how difficult it can be to be a writer and create a screenplay that a director can use to make a successful movie. I think it was an OK movie. Not something I would want to watch again. Someone else might like it.