Simulant

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.

Here's the problem.

The movie starts with a really good 'Bladerunner' style hunting of a simulant/replicant with is is well made and a great set up. Unfortunately, the movie then drops the pace and the action to a scene were a woman mourns the loss of her husband and has had him replaced with a simulant/replicant. The movie then cuts between the two stories, one interesting, one not so much, until the end.

And as for the ending, well, it's a let down. The plot can only reach conclusions with contrivances and conveniences.

There are so many decent ideas here and a great action movie to be made with the material but it feels jumbled up. In short, too many plot lines spoil the film.

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.

For a normally breezy 95 min runtime, this film felt endlessly long. It's terribly slow pacing was part of the problem, but mostly the issue here was the overall underwhelming filmmaking. From the story that's been done many times before and better that felt less intelligent and more artificial, to the directing that lacked any real urgency from scene to scene with annoying, predictable and repetitive sub-narratives. There was a lot of style, but very little substance to be an engaging viewing, even in its short runtime. I found myself constantly impatient for something more suspenseful and thrilling to happen, that never did. Even the all-star casting couldn't elevate the depressingly-toned slow story. Director April Mullen's lack of effective cast direction made it feel like all the actors were half asleep reading their lines. I will however say that the cinematography was excellent, the score very fitting, and the S/VFX quite passable, for a low budget B film.

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.