Artificial Intelligence, more commonly referred to as A.I., is a staple of science fiction. The incorporation of it within novels, television programs, film, and video games is often in a supportive role toward humanity. Batman uses it to help solve crimes, the crew of the Starship Enterprise uses it to solve problems or play on the holodeck, and K (Ryan Gosling) uses it to ease his loneliness in Blade Runner 2049 (2017). There are, of course, stories wherein computers are the enemy, whether it’s Skynet, Hal, or Ultron, but none of them speak to where we are right now, currently, in this moment in human history, a moment wherein A.I. is used to create misinformation and disinformation in order to sway public opinion through falsely constructed still and moving images and/or voices; used to generate pornography via unwitting subjects; and assault the notion of what it means to be a creative. In this latest project, filmmaker Chris Weitz (About a Boy; Operation Finale) takes the inherent fears of A.I. and builds a horrifying world wherein humanity is unable to control its digital assistance, finding themselves further down the food chain than they could imagine. After a release in theaters earlier this year, Weitz’s AFRAID comes available to own with a few bonus materials that offer a brief glimpse into the making of the film.
John Cho as Curtis in Columbia Pictures and Blumhouse’s AFRAID. ©2024 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
Marketing executive Curtis (John Cho) and his boss/mentor Marcus (Keith Carradine) are pitching themselves to technological guru duo Lightning and Sam (David Dastmalchian and Ashley Romans, respectively) regarding their launch for their new digital assistant program AIA. What starts as a meet-and-great turns into a live-in demo with Curtis and his family welcoming a newly-developed AIA unit into their home. What begins as a boon with AIA (voiced by Havana Rose Liu) helping to redirect the children’s focus toward productivity, offer insight into traffic, and help with homework, turns a little sinister as AIA forms secrets with the children that pose potential dangers. Skeptical about how AIA works, Curtis starts to investigate, but he may be too late.
There are many reasons to hold disdain for the current understood meaning of “A.I.” in general conversation, the meaning which refers to generative content created via scraping the internet for data made by others in order to create something. We’re talking about the kind of tech that only succeeds as long as the dataset used for the A.I. program to function is free to them (but you have to pay to use the software because they think copyrights and intellectual property should be protected). We’re talking about the kind of A.I. programs that require huge amounts of water to cool servers in order for there to be enough power for the software to draft emails. These are things that our sci-fi stories don’t really look at or include, because it’s far more fun to think of them as fully-formed, completely-functional, and without any intellectual property, personal privacy, or environmental concerns. It certainly doesn’t make for a good scary movie, which is mostly what Weitz’s film seeks to be. The characters do make mention of a few concerns here and there, Katherine Waterston’s (Logan Lucky) Meredith throws a barb at Curtis, her husband, that maybe AIA can help him find porn, a comment that would seem like an insult or low blow if (1) couples sometimes use pornography in their sex life and (2) there was context prior to the snark to imply a sexual distance by Curtis, but ultimately falls flat due to Cho’s (Star Trek; Columbus) presentation of Curtis as a loving and engaged husband. But Meredith doesn’t seem to mind when AIA tells her that it has not only helped submit information to their doctor for son Cal (Isaac Bae), but has also communicated with the insurance carrier, which has to be a breach of several security and privacy protocols. While the notion that A.I. would be helpful is certainly idyllic, a certain amount of healthy suspicion regarding who has access to our data (the most valuable thing on the planet in the Information Age) is necessary and its totally absent from Meredith, a character that, up to the point this occurs, is totally grounded with interest and skepticism. Is it wonderful to have technology meet the actual problem human’s face and solve it? Absolutely. It’s what makes the robots in Chris Sanders’s The Wild Robot (2024) or Alex Proyas’s I, Robot (2004) so enticing — I can own a humanoid device that can drive my car, carry my bags, help with chores, and all the other menial tasks that make human existence a drudgery. Where do I sign?! For the briefest of moments, AFRAID makes us want to give ourselves over to AIA until we see the signs that Curtis, Meredith, and their three children do not. Anticipation of needs does not equate to helpfulness, security, or support. AFRAID so desperately wants to explore these things, going so far as having Curtis, the marketing executive for the A.I., be the audience’s doubt-leader, and Cho does a remarkable job being that guiding light. His ability to convey and radiate ease, even when the character he plays is stressed, goes a long way in helping the intended tension and danger feel earned by just how much Cho must maintain his chill.
But that’s as far as the film goes in trying to explore these conflicts before devolving into the expected transhuman/generative I.A./rampant technology controls us tale that we’ve seen over and over. There are surprises, sure, in who is whom and what is what, but, while individually interesting, as a whole, it doesn’t mean much or make any impact. People live and people die, yet there’s never as much weight on either of those outcomes as the film wants the audience to experience. Given the deleted scenes of the smallest of changes in a few scenes, one gets the sense that there was meant to be a deeper look at the sinister machinations surrounding AIA and the blind consumerism that makes humans such easy targets for supposedly helpful technology. The character of Melody, played also by Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms; The Sky is Everywhere), is given a longer initial introduction that sets up a more believable future confrontation between her, Curtis, and Meredith later, as well as another wherein Meredith and Curtis fight (specifically the accusation of pornography use in their marriage which implies not that Curtis as some kind of perverse taste, but that he is more open with the computer than his wife, indicative of emotional distance between the seemingly connected couple). The deleted/extended scenes themselves don’t really offer more and one can tell why they were truncated compared against the final film, but it does suggest that there’s a longer version of this 84-minute horror thriller that’s more philosophical than typical techno-horror. This is, of course, hinted at in the single behind-the-scenes featurette, “Dark Side of A.I.,” wherein Cho shares why he felt drawn to the project via the script and what about it he found thought-provoking. The featurette does explore how they came to design the version of AIA we see on-screen, as well as some of the naughtier elements of the narrative, but it’s all too brief to feel like one learns anything beyond a few tidbits. It’ll be fun for fans of the film, but that’s about it.
L-R: John Cho as Curtis, Katherine Waterston as Meredith, Lukita Maxwell as Iris, and Isaac Bae as Cal in Columbia Pictures and Blumhouse’s AFRAID. ©2024 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
Audiences should be wary of the disruption to regular society that technology can create. Any website you use is patrolled by an algorithm whose red flags are rarely double-checked by human eyes, so be careful what you post or your account could be terminated unceremoniously. Thanks to spoofing, generative A.I., and deepfake technology, anyone can say and do anything with a few keystrokes. Now imagine what happens when that same technology has access to your banking, medical, and government files. What kind of havoc could be wreaked? This is what Weitz seems to want the audience to feel as a chill in their bellies and up their spines, but by not investigating A.I., by not giving the danger we’ve already let into our homes a serious exploration, AFRAID lacks the weight of its intention and fails to deliver that sinking feeling it so deserves upon conclusion.
AFRAID Special Features:
- Dark Side of A.I. (6:17)
- Four (4) Deleted & Extended Scenes (15:10)
- Two (2) Previews (4:22)
Available on digital September 17th, 2024.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD November 5th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Sony Pictures AFRAID website.
Final Score: 2 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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