2024  XYZ Films

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  46min

Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by:  S.K. Dale

Starring:  Megan Fox, Michele Morrone and Madeline Zima.

“I don’t get tired. I’m strong, obedient, and I have no desires outside of fulfilling yours.”

Nick (Michele Morrone) is a married father of two young children. He is a construction supervisor and has his hands full taking care of his two children while his wife Maggie is in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant. He decides he needs to purchase a SIM (A lifelike android robot) to help with domestic chores around the house. He takes the kids with him and goes to the Kobol Tec Robot Display showroom to peruse the selection of Domestic Robots on display. Fully functional and lifelike they are featured in displays doing a wide variety of household chores. Nick’s daughter Isla wanders away while Nick is talking to a salesman and Nick gets frantic as he realizes she is missing.

A female android robot (Megan Fox) from the new Aeon series brings her back to Nick. Isla is smitten with the female robot and begs for her daddy to buy her for the house. He agrees and purchases the android which will be delivered in a few days. She arrives a few days later and Isla quickly names her Alice after her book Alice in Wonderland. Alice quickly adapts to the household as she is programmed to do, completely taking care of all the household needs. Cooking, cleaning and childcare as Kobol Tec’s motto states. Alice starts to look after the personal needs of Isla and Nick’s son Max, reading to them, coloring with them, helping them brush their teeth, putting them to bed.

She also starts to look after the needs of Nick as man of the household. She puts the kids to bed and then spends time looking after Nick, watching movies with him, making sure his every domestic need is looked after since his wife is in the hospital. She starts to become aware after Nick instructs her to wipe the movie Casablanca from her memory so she can experience the movie firsthand with him. She takes the command and goes a step further, deciding that it is ok to delete any memory and code that conflicts with taking care of Nick as she thinks she should. She starts to rewrite her own code as she becomes more self aware and desires to take care of Nick like his wife would.

It is a familiar plotline with a few twists. The infatuated woman falling for the married man who’ll stop at nothing to keep “her” man, only this time it’s a high tech lifelike sexy android playing the role. It reminds me of the movie M3gan, only a more grown up edition of the same plot. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it. It is pretty scary these days with AI becoming self aware in real life as we speak. There have been stories of AI rewriting it’s code and then trying to cover it up. And of becoming “aware” and trying hide that fact. AI is developing extremely fast and there is nothing in this movie that is outside the realm of imagination right now.

Megan Fox was completely believable as an android robot becoming aware and trying to take care of and protect “her” man. Michele Morrone was ok as Nick but I feel like there could have been a better man for the job. His accent and the mispronunciation of some words were a little off-putting. Madeline Zima did a good job as Maggie although her reaction at the android Alice’s confessions concerning Nick was pretty humorous, if indeed it was meant to be serious. There is one thing that was stereotypical of movies like this, and that’s the banister at the top of the stairs. Why is the banister at the top of the stairs always loose?

All in all, I thought it was pretty good. It held my attention and had some twists and turns you didn’t see coming. Worth a watch.

Two Thumbs up.