You've seen the premise and plot of the film in other sci-fi films before. Yet it still manages to be intelligent, not spoon-feeding (which explains why the film is lost to some viewers), while still simultaneously thrilling and plot-twisting.
I've seen the twist miles away: that the robots are creating a better version of humanity, a typical sci-fi cliche but the film remains interesting along the way. It continuously straddles in showing the Mother in heartwarming scenes and pose her as a commanding presence that you keep trying to figure out what her true intention is. But the best part of this is to me the stranger-Woman herself. You've seen her archetype in every other "beware of outside" films out there (10 Cloverfield Lane comes to mind) but what makes her as a perfect setup for this film is the way she is presented: her casting, her interaction with the Daughter, her memories. All points out to the fact that she is the original daughter. The film started with saying that 38 years have passed, yet we have only a teenage Daughter. Then we are shown that 3 embryos are missing, and 1 of them being "failed", not "aborted" like the rest. Then we are shown the Daughter recalling vague memories of her past. Last, the one that was a dead giveaway to me: the Woman looks very similar to the Daughter. It all makes sense in the last scene with the stranger-Woman, as the event finally unfolded.
Of course, the film still stumbled here and there. The typical plot of unstable teenager where curiosity gets the best of them is a bit annoying as it is a tired cliche (although admittedly that's just teens being teens). The whole idea that the Mother is an authoritarian AI trying to make humanity in a better form is also a tired cliche. Given the fact that Daughter is still a teen, her taking the mantle of Mother is also unconvincing, as I'm not sure how perfectly ethical she is educated, that she can raise a kid - perhaps that's also a point of contention that the film tries to raise? What is maturity when you are breeded to be perfect?
But the intelligent way the film is presented, and most of all, the performance by Clara Rugaard as Daughter makes the ride totally worth 2 hours. I like how Daughter started as a curious, naive teen to a lady with conviction (while still retaining her naivety) by the end of the film. It's partly due to the great makeup and lighting and general cinematography, but Rugaard's acting really established the performance.
All in all, this is in no way a masterclass in sci-fi, but still an enjoyable watch to think and discuss about. Especially with the advent of ChatGPT, we may want to talk again how much we want to technically intervene societal problems, and if those problems warrant technicalization in the first place.
Review by WardVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2022-01-01T22:25:41Z
This was a good film, though i was nearly always on mother's side.
Really one of the only ethical problems was the whole her killing the children that were "imperfect" though we don't get any clarification.
What if she was killing children who had inoperable brain defects which would make them murderously violent in later life. And now that the human girl will allow any child to live, that may happen. Even if mother may later tell her that will happen, daughter won't do anything and let it happen or keep the person contained in later life, i guess. I don't know.
But yeah it's most likely she was killing children who weren't perfect in other ways, which of course is wrong and mother should have known it was wrong for logical reasons, but the writer wanted the story or this aspect to be more against mother's side, so it's written this way.
So if you take away mother killing the imperfect children, you don't have much reason to be against mother's plan.
Restarting humanity as a utopia. With the best education and resources. And even if the mines were real, it would be full of flawed humanity and they may all starve to death or destroy each-other. Plus, in the facility, they would have the technology to one day research maybe how to destroy the droids (if mother was actually just an independant care droid).
So i was nearly always on mother's side as the movie progressed. The final twist didn't alter much.
The line of dialogue "I saw them (the droids) torturing babies" doesn't make sense given mother's plan and personality. Especially given it's supposed to be one consciousness, or something.
I kinda liked that mother planned for that woman to arrive at the facility. That cleared up a contrivance that the woman just happened to arrive at the facility at that specific time.
Mother's plan was a bit convoluted. But still, it was alright. I don't fully buy the independance angle at the end, from daughter's or mother's side, but i'll roll with it. I still think humanity would be better guided by mother, and as humanity grew she would take on a more advisory role, or something.