Wifelike

In the future, people could buy robots to be their spouse. A very sexy, good looking, obedient spouse. Jonathan Rhys character buy one of this robot called Meredith (played by Elena Kampouris) to replace his late wife.

He is a detective who work for the company that make the robots. Because there's a terrorist group that against the exploitation of these robots and trying to sabotage their AI. His job is to retrieve all the kidnapped (or freed sex slaves) robots that was ruined by the terrorist group.

To be honest the story is interesting, it has everything to be the next great sci fi movie. The mystery, the twist, and if handled correctly, packed action. But I guess this movie was made with minimum budget.

We have a company that make advance robots. But the office looks like something you see in the 90's, boring and dull. The action is cut short. They could make great scene when he tries to infiltrate the terrorist base and beat the bad guys. But the action is so-so.

Camera movement is stiff, bland cinematography, and CGI that looks like early 2000's tv shows. Some actors are underperformed. I can continue for longer.

Elena Kampouris is the only thing that worthy of your attention. Her acting is good. And the sex scene is an eye candy for sure. Despite bad things the story isn't boring and quite engaging. I like the concept of dreaming robots they make. And the twist is kind of predictable, because of too many clues scattered in the movie.

If only this movie has better budget and director. This movie can be the next big thing actually.

Basically soft core porn with a plot and a used-to-be actor, Meyers Story moves really slow and isn't thought provoking at all. Concept is good but film lacks any grit. Given the guy's job, there are some tragically missed opportunities. Could have been a really great, gritty, dark film... but the whole thing looks like it was filmed in a dentists office. There's no real sci-fi aesthetic and costuming looks like it was by actor's choice. Dialogue is robotic (& without irony) and the characters meant to be mysterious are laughable. Way too slow in all developments. Had potential but unfortunately falls short. All that said, it's watchable.

Released earlier in the year, Wifelike is not the typical human/robot type film. It does contain interesting ideas but overall, it seems like it tries being more clever than it should be. And taking itself a little more serious.

Elena Kampouris is the clear standout here where from her opening appearance, we get a sense as to how this may unfold.

The film is definitely engaging and not boring with its constant turns and several twists but it's climax isn't great. The end twist is quite predictable where there were a lot of clues along the way.

Otherwise Wifelike is solid but don't expect another Ex Machina.

Look, this wasn't a terrible movie. It was fun. It kept my interest enough to care about what happens. I loved the wardrobe, sets, and futuristic aesthetics! The setting was a believable future.

The acting was good from most of the cast. Elena Kampouris was fantastic as a robotic wife. I'm wondering if some CGI trickery was involved because she's so beautiful. Almost too perfect.

And the movie started off well... but then the plot kind of went off the rails. Some big holes, more questions than answers, a little sloppy. I think it was meant to present the viewer with moral, philosophical conundrums but they got lost along the way in the foggy plot.

Also, maybe it's just how I was reading it... but there was a theme that felt man-hatey or like the demonization of men on a biological level. If so, that I didn't care for.

Nevertheless, out of all the movies of this type in recent years, I liked this one not best but amongst the better of them. It's worth the hour and 45 minutes to see what you get out of it.

With Shannon Whirry and Shannon Tweed at career peaks, softcore porn movies were the rage in the '90s, via VHS and Cinemax popularity. Hardcore porn, especially via internet distribution ended that era, but here's a throwback, made by indie filmmakers headed by James Bird whose pretentious "fantasy/surrealism" style comes off as precious and as artificial as his AI characters.

It was distressing to see British actor John Rhys Meyers descend so quickly into the career tailspin of a Malcolm McDowell (who he physically resembles) -moving from A pictures to grade Z level. His breathy line readings are extremely poor, and his overall sleepwalking performance made him seem like an AI himself. Why Bird decided on such a misogynist premise (no husband replacement studs for sale here) mystified me. And the casting was a bust, with lovely heroine Elena so closely resembling Twiggy of the Sixties, rather than going for a voluptuous softporn actress. Even the glamorous settings look like current porn, hardcore that is, where the expicit lovemaking is often photographed in fabulous mansions by directors like Jules Jordan or Kayden Kross.

I recall Paramount Home Video releasing plenty of drek in this vein way back when, but for current Paramount Pictures to indulge is disappointing. The sci-fi potential of the story is completely wasted. Obviously, it takes a big budget to do a "Blade Runner", but the aspirations here are embarrassing.