There’s a long history of film that questions the uncertainty of our future and the role that artificial intelligence may play in our lives, and how we might just suffer at the hands of our very own creations.

 

It’s hard at first to tell where the film I am Mother fits with its family of sci-fi predecessors. In a way, I am Mother acts as a rebellious child challenging the traditional notion of evil robots proposed in previous films about the intent behind our silver-coated creations. 

Director Grant Sputore’s debut film I Am Mother adds something fresh and exciting to the science fiction genre. Unlike the ‘Bad Bot’ worlds of Alien(1979), Terminator(1984), and Ex-Machina(2014);I Am Mother’s robot is a bit hard to categorize. As an audience member I could never pinpoint why it is I distrusted the character, but yet felt she was intrinsically human, or even more so, motherly. But like its genre in which the film belongs to, it does exactly what the best have achieved. It allows for us to imagine a future not yet here and ignite conversations that last with us long after the credits roll. 

First of all, the film does a good job at confusing whether or not we are wrong for our suspicion of artificial intelligence and robots. Director Grant Sputore taps into the minds of Netflix’s millennial audiences by recalling songs from their childhoods. You begin to question how even the most robot ridden dystopia has some of humanity’s greatest moments lingering throughout. It’s a film that builds a stark and nostalgic charged metal monster, but also delivers a performance that convinces you there must be something more behind hardwired cold machinery.

 

I Am Mother is an excellent indie science fiction film that explores the potential of A.I. having absolute control over human life and poses the question, if machines were to have control over humanity is that really such a bad thing? As mentioned in the film, “Humans ruin everything.” And is that statement really so wrong?

Not only is the film fresh and enticing, but Grant Sputore and his team display forward thinking by also focusing on representation of women in film. I am Mother functions both as a genre piece ,but also paves the way with strong female performances to drive the genre forward into a future of multidimensional strong female leads.

Hilary Swank with her long-awaited comeback reminds audiences of her raw and intense talent. Rugaard, with her breakout performance, is calculated yet instinctive and dazzles audiences with her grace on screen.

 

I Am Mother definitely engages and challenges the audience by raising questions about the relationship between humanity and technology — also tying in the cycle of motherhood and what it takes to bring the new generation forward into an uncertain future. Technology complicates this further by suggesting that motherhood is as complicated as the wiring and circuitry of our unknown and seemingly bleak future. Do we trust that technology is our saving grace or will it destroy the system in which we live as we know it? 

 

 

 

Watch I Am Mother on Netflix Today at www.netflix.com