A One Mann’s Movies review of “Afraid” (2024).
(Alternative Title: “AfrAId”).
You only have to know that the original title of this was “AfrAId”, that clumsily inserts “AI” into the title, to have a sinking feeling about this one. (Right? It’s even quite difficult to work out it even says that!) But this story of AI taking over the world has potential. Sadly, even with personable leads (John Cho and Katherine Waterstone) and the potential for an interesting tale, the movie never delivers on that promise.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Curtis (John Cho) is a brand marketing specialist who is hired by an advanced AI company to sell their new and extraordinary home management product AIA. He is instructed by his boss to let the company install the system in his home. But the system has been trained on the worst as well as the best of the internet.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong threat, sexually abusive behaviour”.)
Talent:
Starring: John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Keith Carradine, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, Ashley Romans, Wyatt Lindner, Isaac Bae.
Directed by: Chris Weitz.
Written by: Chris Weitz.
Running Time: 1h 24m.
“Afraid” Summary:
Positives:
- Some aspects of the story, where the AI is “helping” the family, work well as little vignettes.
- John Cho and Katherine Waterstone make a great acting team together and deserve better.
Negatives:
- This type of story has been done before and much better.
- The film is too rushed to build the rationale for the acceptance or otherwise of AIA.
- Bits of the story make little sense: what’s with the ridiculous helmets of the “incomers”?
Review of “Afraid”:
Another “Bad AI” movie
I’ve commented before that AI is the Multiverse of 2023/24 cinema. But this type of film has been done much better before, for example by the surprisingly fun “M3gan” from last year and “Ex Machina” from 2015. It’s flagged as a “Sci-Fi/Mystery/Horror” but there’s very little “Mystery” in it (the story progresses fairly predictably) and hardly any “Horror”, given this is a Blumhouse production.
Where it does get slightly more interesting is when we focus in on the individual interactions of the AI with the Curtis family children. In particular, the sub-plot of Iris (a very good Lukita Maxwell), where her snapped nudes find their way onto the internet. It’s not only a salutary lesson for teens but also entertaining as AIA attempts to ‘fix’ the issue.
So, bits of it are interesting. But the story-arc never progresses in a satisfactory way and when random strangers turn up wearing ridiculous emoji video masks (what??) you think the writer/director Chris Weitz has lost the plot. The finale is a great big non-event too.
Cho and Waterstone make a believable couple.
I’ve always really liked Katherine Waterstone in movies (I last saw her with Jodie Comer in the very good dystopian drama “The End We Start From“) and here I thought she delivers a terrific job as the frustrated “mom” wanting to do so much more with her life. John Cho is as reliable as ever and the pair make a believable couple that I wanted to get to know more.
And that’s one of the problems here. Overall, I never felt I got to really KNOW the family members well enough to understand why they were influenced by AIA in the way they were. More character development was needed across the board. It’s not as if the run-time was outstaying its welcome (it is only 84 minutes long).
Hats off to the editors
One technical aspect I will pull out for praise is the editing by Timothy Alverson and Priscilla Nedd-Friendly. There’s a lot of it here, with a lot of subliminally flashing images!
Summary Thoughts on “Afraid”
An eminently forgettable Sci-Fi movie. “Alexa…. skip”.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Afraid”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE5QzD_qtxs.
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