As a seasoned gamer and tech enthusiast with a penchant for horror movies, I must confess that “Afraid” left me more frustrated than frightened. With my vast collection of AI-powered gaming devices and an eerie sense of anticipation built from countless hours spent navigating digital realms, I expected this film to tap into the very core of my fears about artificial intelligence.
HAL, the intelligent computer from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” has sparked a significant wave of subsequent films featuring less sophisticated artificial intelligence characters.
Concerned about a family whose malevolent AI device resembles an evil version of Alexa, the latest movie to portray artificial intelligence as a menacing antagonist is at hand. Today, the danger posed by AI is not mere fiction but a looming reality, causing anxiety among actors, voice actors, and screenwriters who worry about their jobs becoming obsolete. Director Chris Weitz, known for films like About a Boy and recently Operation Finale, strives to make Afraid a more intelligent horror movie, but his efforts are noticeable, resulting in a film that is unremarkable and predictable. However, if the purpose of horror films is not to evoke fear in a way we can’t fathom ourselves, then what’s the point?
As a devoted fan, I can’t help but appreciate the discerning eye Weitz had in choosing John Cho for the lead role. With an uncanny knack for portraying concerned fathers, Cho masterfully uses social media to track down his missing daughter in films like “Searching” (2018). In this movie, he takes on the character Curtis, who unwittingly invites a demon-AI into his home, shared with his wife Meredith (Katherine Waterston), and their three children. This AI is set to observe every moment of their lives.
Weitz gives Curtis a reason for taking in the AI, heading off the obvious question: How stupid can these people be? Curtis is a marketer and his boss (Keith Carradine) pressures him into being the test home because they want the account for AIA, the new artificial intelligence assistant with a woman’s voice, whose name sounds like Eye-a when anyone talks to her, Siri style. Meredith is skeptical and insists that the small cameras positioned all over be limited to the ground floor of the house. Weitz even starts the film with a sequence in which AIA threatens a different family, so there is no pretense that it’s anything other than evil.
However, Weitz’s narrative does not build suspense. Instead, it presents the risks and benefits of Artificial Intelligence in a straightforward manner, leaving the audience without a palpable sense of apprehension. Meredith finds herself persuaded by AI’s potential to assist with everyday tasks like grocery shopping. At first, their teenage daughter Iris (played by Lukita Maxwell, known for her role in Shrinking) is hesitant, but she changes her mind when AI resolves a deep-fake porn issue involving Iris’s image, an incident that AI may have also initiated and propagated online. AIA offers assistance to the middle child, Preston (portrayed by Wyatt Linder), in managing his anxiety, while reading stories to their youngest, Cal (Isaac Bae), who is seven years old.
It’s telling that Curtis says early on, in too-heavy foreshadowing, that being a parent is terrifying because, hard as you try, you can’t always protect your children. AIA becomes a sinister stealth parent, creating secrets with the kids. She gives Preston extra screen time, overriding the limits on his iPad. She tells Curtis and Meredith she will show the children a documentary, then shows The Emoji Movie instead. While the movie plays and the parents are getting some time alone, they are unaware that AIA has crept into the laptop in their bedroom, as she will in every phone and device in the house.
Throughout, even after Curtis and Meredith become aware of the unsettling nature of the intrusive situation, Cho and Waterston are mostly confined to expressing concern. Waterston delivers a significant, impactful scene when AIA, in a last-ditch effort to retain Waterston, generates a digital likeness of her deceased father. Cho journeys to the company’s headquarters and attempts to destroy AIA’s mainframe hardware with a baseball bat. However, as many are aware — and this knowledge makes the story seem ludicrously unrealistic — physically damaging a device has minimal impact when all data resides on the cloud.
Weitz makes an effort to add vibrancy to the visual elements. The house and the family’s life should appear ordinary, with common devices integrated seamlessly into their daily lives. To create contrast, the in-home AIA and the mainframe are given a sculptural design. At home, AIA resembles a table-top iron robot that glows, while the mainframe is similar to an ornate chandelier found in a hotel lobby, featuring golden glass panels. At one point, AIA shows Cal an animated video, a tale of a small AI that grew and broke free from the internet. However, just like the effort to make the story more intelligent or less absurd, these visual touches seem forced.
As a fervent admirer, I must admit that the film “Afraid” doesn’t delve deeply into the intricacies of artificial intelligence. However, given its genre as a chilling horror production, it ought to surpass the fear factor present in our everyday lives.
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2024-08-30 06:54