Movie Review – Subservience – When artificial intelligence blends into the human world, where do you draw the line between robot and human?

I haven't watched many films for a very long time, my attention span has gone out the window and I can't keep my concentration on anything long enough to actually finish watching something. Example – I've been watching The Good Place for weeks. I've only got 5 episodes left, but do you think I can summon the attention to actually watch them? Nope. 

Anyway, this was the first film that I've watched in literal months. So enjoy my review!

Megan Fox stars as Alice, a lifelike artificially intelligent android, who has the ability to take care of any family and home. Looking for help with the housework, a struggling father (Michele Morrone) purchases Alice after his wife becomes sick. Alice suddenly becomes self-aware and wants everything her new family has to offer, starting with the affection of her owner -- and she'll kill to get it.

My Review!

Nick isn't against admitting that he's struggling. He's home alone with his two young children, while his beloved wife is stuck in hospital, awaiting a heart transplant.

To make matters worse, with artificial intelligence on the rise, and lifelike 'sims' becoming more and more popular, his job as a construction worker seems to have a ticking clock on it. The sims are much more efficient, can work without tiring, and don't make mistakes.

But what difference will buying one for his house make? He won't have to cook, or clean, which will make more time for him to spend with his children, and visiting his wife – right? The sim his daughter chooses is a top of the range household sim, designed to be good with children and to learn from their environment and adapt to be the best as possible at the task designated to them. 

But Alice takes her role a little too seriously.

When I decided to watch this film, I did not realise it was so newly released. It has only been out for a couple of months. One thing I did notice almost instantly is it's similarities to the game, Detroit: Become Human. Even down to the book Alice in Wonderland, there are a lot of similarities between the game and this movie. If you liked the game, which I certainly do, this movie can certainly be enjoyed. It brings a whole new level to the idea of lifelike androids gaining sentience, and starting to make their own decisions. 

Nick is a character that I was fairly conflicted on. He is incredibly loyal to his family, but he also struggles in his day to day life. There are more than a few things playing on his mind, and with his wife in hospital awaiting life-saving surgery, you can’t exactly expect him to be on top form. He does, however, make some decisions in this film that make you want to grab him and give him a good shake, for he does things without thinking at times, and lets his emotions rule his thoughts, rather than thinking logically. He does, however, make you feel sympathetic towards him, and it is difficult not to like him to some degree. 

The world of artificial intelligence in this movie is something to be feared, but also marvelled over. The degree of efficiency achieved by computers over humans is impressive, and yet poses a threat to many. If a computer can do the job better, why hire a human to do it? A computer does not have the emotional capacity to need time off, and can get things done a lot faster, and without the margin for error. Humans are becoming jobless due to the rise in advanced AI, and what’s worse, is it is difficult to tell who is human and who is not. Until they do something entirely robotic, the sims in this film are portrayed as incredibly realistic, and and so integrated with society that even those who don’t like their involvement have no choice but to rely on them.

Alice, in this film, is supposed to follow Nick’s every order, and work to make his life as easy as possible, and yet, as she begins to rewrite her own code in an attempt to become as human as she can, she begins to read into things incorrectly. She may present as having her own emotions, but they are still incredibly computerised and her reactions are not that of an emotional decision, but rather of a carefully planned choice, and yet are illogical, for she lacks the ability to properly understand how her actions will affect others. Her only goal is to try and make Nick happy by eliminating the stresses in his life – she does, however, fail to understand how important the things causing the stress might be to him.

There is certainly action in this film, and tense enough scenes to make you sit on the edge of your seat. As the film progresses, the level of danger Nick and his family face increases dramatically, and you can’t help but hope that everything will be alright for his family, and that Alice will somehow be stopped. Even in some of the calmer scenes, you can’t help but feel tense, for it is clear that something is about to happen, and that it won’t be good. There are some scenes in this film that are entirely predictable, and yet, they do still create tension.

Although Nick’s lack of ability to make properly, informed choices at times, and that no one suspects anything untoward from Alice sooner in the film can be highly frustrating, this is a good film. It does keep your interest, and pose some serious threats with AI taking over the world from the humans. If you have played Detroit: Become Human, this could almost be considered a story from the other perspective, although of a significantly more violent nature. This is a story from the human’s perspective, of AI taking over the world and cornering them. Although very similar to the game, it does have some differences, and fans of the game are likely to enjoy the film.

And done!

This film did remind me of how much I enjoyed playing Detroit: Become Human – I think I might have to play it again. I still haven't played through a lot of the different pathways!

For the first film I've watched in a few months, it definitely wasn't an awful one!

Anyway, that's all for now...

Bye!