In a post-apocalyptic future, a young woman is raised by a nurturing robot. Her purpose is to repopulate the Earth. Then, impossibly, a stranger from the ‘outside’ appears and sows seeds of doubt in the young woman’s mind about who she is. Who is telling the truth; the robot or the stranger? A cerebral sci-fi to keep you guessing.
In an underground bunker, a programme is running to repopulate the world after a mass extinction event. Mother, a robot, is raising a young girl, Child,. Years later, Daughter is questioning Mother about who she is but Mother attempts to focus the young woman upon learning to raise children. And then, the woman (Hilary Swank) arrives; an impossibility as Daughter was told that no one else survives. This throws up huge doubts over everything else daughter has been told and yet she cannot fully trust Woman. Is this a case of artificial intelligence gone wrong or mad woman about to spoil everything? Absorbing and tense.
You’ll be scratching your head throughout and after the final credits have disappeared. But, rest assured, it does all piece together and surely films are meant to stretch us a bit. This is an Australian film by a first-time director. It looks good and yet on a small budget.
Director: Grant Sputore
Cast: Luke Hawker, Maddie Lenton, Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank
Certificate: 15
Netflix
1 hour 53 min
