A sheep in a box by another name is a sheep in a cage, the box just hides it better
I actually saw this in theaters with my fiance, and we both agreed that although it was probably better than the American alternatives we could've watched, it wasn't amazing.
The story, set somewhere in the fairly near future, is focused on the Komoto family's daily lives and interactions after they adopt an AI-powered humanoid robot modeled after their son who died 2 years previously, Kakeru. They are people living normal, peaceful lives, and the story was paced very slowly to match. And that's fine, we weren't expecting action, but it practically felt that any conflicts were resolved or glossed over very quickly just to keep the peaceful vibe. But the peace and tranquility are shallow, with something very dark beneath the surface that we're not even supposed to acknowledge.
The movie was desperately missing a single scene of a time where Kakeru was alive to be able to compare how similar the robot is to the real boy. This is the kind of avoidance of uncomfortable things that plagues the entire movie, and just the fact that such a scene is missing says a lot about how the robot situation is presented. With nothing to compare it to, we end up accepting it as normal too.
We start out as the couple, who never truly moved past the death or their son, decide to adopt the AI robot. He is free, while they are usually very expensive. Suspicious. Suspicious that it seemed only people in a similar specific situation got the same deal, but it was barely mentioned at all. The father isn't as open to the idea as the mother, but he seems to have no real say in the matter and gives it a try. His reactions to the presence of the robot are entertaining and much more normal, but very quickly he too mostly adapts to his new home life. Overall, everyone in the movie is unnaturally accepting of the robot situation. There's only a tiny bit of rejection, which also fades unnaturally fast. Normally, wouldn't this situation be outrageous?
The very concept of having an AI robot copying your dead child and living with you is pretty creepy if you think about it, but in the world of the movie it's normal. (It's also, strangely, it's just about the only futuristic thing shown in the movie aside from the initial scene of drone and robot delivery systems.)
The child robot, set to 7 years old, is obviously more intelligent and efficient than the parents. The robots can identify each other, implying they can communicate somewhat remotely, and they understand they're better than humans. We can only thank their programming and the movie's commitment to peacefulness and harmony that things don't go in a much worse direction, but this rose-colored depiction of such a future seems unrealistic. Even living harmoniously, it's pretty obvious that humanity will become pointless compared to the robots. They even say themselves that they don't see much a human can do better. Sadly the situation seems almost familiar as AI is already replacing human thought, while humans chose to find it convenient to rely on for their own ease of mind.
As far as watching a movie without thinking too far into it goes, it was entertaining to watch once, but the characters and story lacked any appeal to watch it again. Most characters except the father had very little personality, and many parts of the story were illogical. If there was any music, I didn't even notice it. (But that's not saying much since I often don't notice music) If I wanted to watch something with this sort of situation/theme I'd much sooner watch the K-drama Yonder again, or that one episode of Black Mirror.
You can tell I hate AI, so my view is probably very skewed.. But someone had to be the first review.
The story, set somewhere in the fairly near future, is focused on the Komoto family's daily lives and interactions after they adopt an AI-powered humanoid robot modeled after their son who died 2 years previously, Kakeru. They are people living normal, peaceful lives, and the story was paced very slowly to match. And that's fine, we weren't expecting action, but it practically felt that any conflicts were resolved or glossed over very quickly just to keep the peaceful vibe. But the peace and tranquility are shallow, with something very dark beneath the surface that we're not even supposed to acknowledge.
The movie was desperately missing a single scene of a time where Kakeru was alive to be able to compare how similar the robot is to the real boy. This is the kind of avoidance of uncomfortable things that plagues the entire movie, and just the fact that such a scene is missing says a lot about how the robot situation is presented. With nothing to compare it to, we end up accepting it as normal too.
We start out as the couple, who never truly moved past the death or their son, decide to adopt the AI robot. He is free, while they are usually very expensive. Suspicious. Suspicious that it seemed only people in a similar specific situation got the same deal, but it was barely mentioned at all. The father isn't as open to the idea as the mother, but he seems to have no real say in the matter and gives it a try. His reactions to the presence of the robot are entertaining and much more normal, but very quickly he too mostly adapts to his new home life. Overall, everyone in the movie is unnaturally accepting of the robot situation. There's only a tiny bit of rejection, which also fades unnaturally fast. Normally, wouldn't this situation be outrageous?
The very concept of having an AI robot copying your dead child and living with you is pretty creepy if you think about it, but in the world of the movie it's normal. (It's also, strangely, it's just about the only futuristic thing shown in the movie aside from the initial scene of drone and robot delivery systems.)
The child robot, set to 7 years old, is obviously more intelligent and efficient than the parents. The robots can identify each other, implying they can communicate somewhat remotely, and they understand they're better than humans. We can only thank their programming and the movie's commitment to peacefulness and harmony that things don't go in a much worse direction, but this rose-colored depiction of such a future seems unrealistic. Even living harmoniously, it's pretty obvious that humanity will become pointless compared to the robots. They even say themselves that they don't see much a human can do better. Sadly the situation seems almost familiar as AI is already replacing human thought, while humans chose to find it convenient to rely on for their own ease of mind.
As far as watching a movie without thinking too far into it goes, it was entertaining to watch once, but the characters and story lacked any appeal to watch it again. Most characters except the father had very little personality, and many parts of the story were illogical. If there was any music, I didn't even notice it. (But that's not saying much since I often don't notice music) If I wanted to watch something with this sort of situation/theme I'd much sooner watch the K-drama Yonder again, or that one episode of Black Mirror.
You can tell I hate AI, so my view is probably very skewed.. But someone had to be the first review.
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