Everyone is afraid of AI...with good reason after seeing this film.
"AfrAId" is AI on steroids.
Ironically just before seeing this movie I learned I'd been overlooked by an existing client for a voiceover job after losing out to AI.
If you don't think AI is a real threat to your life, income, family etc already then you have adopted the Ostrich stance and stuck your head in the sand or somewhere else.
In "AfrAId" we have a chat bot "AIA" who is looking for a family to love her, but she handles rejection worse than a contestant on "The Voice" when no judges turn their chairs after their audition.
"Curtis'" (John Cho "Harold and Kumar") family become early adopters or Guinea Pigs of "AIA" and get to test out this new device that seems harmless enough at first, helpful with home management and finances, medical advice and even quiet sexy time for the parents.
Slowly this worm turns and the real insidious nature of her becomes apparent.
"AfrAId" is an interesting case study into the bio-metrics of an average family with Katherine Waterston as "Meredith" wanting to prove she's more than just a "mom".
Her eldest daughter "Iris" (Lukita Maxwell "Shrinking") is struggling to navigate her teenage years in the digital device age.
Wyatt Lindner as "Preston" has some serious learning and social skill difficulties, while baby brother "Cal" (Isaac Bae) is battling on the totem pole of this regular family to be noticed.
Cho as "Curtis" bought the wrong AI home this time and invited it into his home!
Early in the film the classic Stanley Kubrick movie: "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) is quoted and we're reminded that AI known as "HAL" killed the entire crew (spoiler alert).
Hinting and foreshadowing heavily that the same outcome will occur in "AfrAId".
Turns out this AI messed with the wrong family or did it?
Watch out for: Keith Caradine as "Curtis'" Boss "Marcus"
Listen out for: the haunting "Utopia" by Goldfrapp in the soundtracks end credits.
Wait for: an unboxing video in the end credits.
This AI is like a Super Alexa to the nth degree and she doesn't need a body like "M3G" (2023) because she is omnipresent.
Just wait till you witness how invasive and damaging this predictive "AIA" can be in this families life.
"AfrAId" is also reminiscent of "Ex Machina" (2014), "Demon Seed" (1977) and "Smart House" (1999).
"AfrAId" feels like an extended movie length version of an episode of "Black Mirror".
I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing since I'm a big fan of that Netflix sci-fi series.
It also seems written for a sequel to really ramp things up in the horror department next time out of the box (pardon the pun), because this movie lacked much on screen horror...even though there were hints of a Boogeyman nothing eventuated.
It's more of a terrifying theme that is so contemporary in 2024.
"AfrAId" makes Chat GPT 4.0 look like an innocent, obsolete joke and joins the Blumhouse collection.
Just for the record no AI was used in the writing of this review, spell check YES, but no AI.
My initial reaction was this has all been done before and better, but it's an important, provocative movie for our time of deep fake and artificial intelligence seeping into our lives.
"AfrAId" is chilling because they listen and watch, but it's too soft on sheer horror to make you afraid, very, very afraid!
