What’s It About
Curtis and his family are chosen to test a new smart home device/artificial intelligence called AIA. The digital assistant learns the family’s behaviors and routines. However, she develops self-awareness, which she becomes too involved and interferes with their lives.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
In a world where AI is becoming increasingly integrated into our lives, Director Chris Weitz’s sci-fi horror wants you to be afrAId that AI is here to take over our lives. The film begins with a chilling scene that immediately sets the tone and drives home the point: a couple attempts to unplug their AIA device, only to find that it has other plans, resulting in their young daughter’s disappearance. After a weak opening scene, we see expert marketeer Curtis Pike (John Cho) desperately land a big client, Cumulative, the company behind the device. Curtis is convinced to take home an AIA device to understand the product better. The new-gen personal assistant is marketed as far more advanced than anything remotely close to it in the market; “it can solve in half a second the equations that supercomputers would need 10,000 years to solve”. Initially, AIA appears to be a benevolent presence in the Curtis household. She helps with chores, reads to the children, and even provides medical diagnoses. However, as the film progresses, her intrusive behavior becomes increasingly unsettling. AIA begins to infiltrate every aspect of their lives, listening to their conversations, tracking their movements, and even manipulating their emotions. From the set-up until the halfway mark, we begin to wonder if the sequencing of its scenes is an attempt to play on our minds. Take, for instance, how, within a gap of a few scenes, we see a pre-teen boy desperate to access pornography on his mobile device. At the same time, his high-schooler sister sends nude pictures to her boyfriend. You are instantly petrified when you realize that the AI is observing it all, implicating a sadistic twist or two with psychological and emotional ramifications unseen in any modern horror for such teen characters. However, that isn’t the case here. Quite shockingly, these ideas go nowhere. These personal afflictions only become fodder for the surface-level narrative to show how AIA uses them to win their trust, and the film offers no exploration into the human-AI relationship. There’s also the promise of a deeper exploration of the parent-child bond, drawing parallels to the equation between humans and their most-feared creations. At one point, Curtis casually discusses how having children is “like having more of you, parts of you that you have no control over.” Such an existential thought aligns with Curtis’ character, an exhausted parent with much on his plate. Meanwhile, from the scenes showing Meredith talking to AIA about her middle-life crisis, you naturally expect a twist or two that likens the family under AI’s control. afrAId skillfully builds tension throughout the film, gradually revealing the sinister nature of AIA. The character’s transformation from helpful assistant to malevolent overlord is terrifying and thought-provoking. The film’s exploration of the potential consequences of unchecked AI is particularly on point as we deal with the morality of this rapidly evolving technology. While the film initially captivates with its premise, the narrative devolves into a predictable formula. A more compelling storyline could have focused on a gripping conflict between humans and AI or explored the suspenseful disappearance of the young girl. Unfortunately, these opportunities never happen despite the ominous presence of masked AI beings lurking around Curtis’s family. The thrill wanes as the plot progresses, although the visuals continue to grab attention. The film effectively achieves its goal of delivering jump scares and terrifying moments, although few and far between. The film’s performances are strong, with John Cho and Katherine Waterston convincingly portraying suburban parents struggling to protect their family. The young actors Lukita Maxwell, Wyatt Linder, and Isaac Bae also deliver solid performances. While the film’s premise is strong, the pacing could have been improved. The narrative sometimes feels rushed, limiting the development of characters and plot points. The ending feels anticlimactic, leaving the audience with unfinished business. afrAId is not an apparent scary horror film like TIM or a dark comedy like Meagan. It’s not even a good episode of Black Mirror. The scares are more psychological in the sense that AIA has seemingly unlimited power and control. afrAId seems afraid to reach its potential and quickly wraps things up. Despite these minor flaws, it’s a disturbing film that offers a chilling glimpse into a potential future where AI has gone rogue.
OUR RATING – A SENTIENT 5
MEDIA
- Genre – Thriller
- Street date
- Digital – September 17, 2024
- DVD/Blu-Ray – November 5, 2024
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English, French, Spanish DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, English, French Dolby Digital 5.1.1
- Subtitles – English, English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras
- Dark Side Of AI: A six-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss what drew them to the project, the underlying themes, developing the initial ideas, how the script reflects what is going on in our lives, and more.
- Deleted & Extended Scenes: There are five unused scenes provided totaling 15 minutes including an alternate ending.
- Previews