On a recent visit to Cineworld, I finally got the chance to catch the movie AFRAID which I had seen the trailer for so many times on previous visits, I thought it was about time that I checked out the film for myself.
Curtis’ family has been chosen to test a new home device: a digital assistant called AIA. AIA learns the family’s behaviours and starts anticipating their needs. She ensures that nothing – and no one – obstructs her family’s path.
Blumhouse has brought another one of those movies that have you thinking about the future of our world with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the scary thought that the AI will take a step to being something that we don’t control but instead controls us. This is not so much a Skynet-type AI that is trying to wipe out the human species from the face of the Earth, this is more of something that wants to control us and treat us like playthings or even as pets!
AFRAID starts by introducing us to a family that has had the AIA for a while and this gives us a glimpse of what the next family may have a similar outcome to, we then meet Curtis (John Cho), his wife Meredith (Katherine Waterston) and their children Cal (Isaac Bee), Jackson (Ashton Essex Bright) and Iris (Lukita Maxwell).
Soon AIA is introduced to the family as Curtis is coerced into trialing the system to learn more about it and give it the marketing that it required to get the AIA system in homes across the world.
Having only seen one of the trailers for AFRAID I had some idea of what I was seeing, but being a Blumhouse film I knew that there could be some possible scares, which it does have a couple of but hardened horror fans will see them coming a mile off, but they do work nicely.
For me the film is not so much about jumps or shocks, it is about the fear that most of us are having these days with the increase in the use of AI in the world, the horror in this movie is a psychological one and with AIA becoming more and more manipulative even to the point of setting up Iris to share a nude image to everyone and then swoop in and save the day. You can see how AI could be something that is heading our way if AI isn’t controlled. But with something such as AIA that has access to everything including bank records to pay bills, medical records and free reign on the internet the film is one that gave me chills.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the film as much as I did, but a short runtime of 1 hour and 24 minutes certainly works. If the film was longer it would have been running out of steam, the slight twist and the outcome of the film work well to keep you entered with AFRAID.
The cast was great to watch, John Cho is a fave of mine and he played the part of Curtis well, it was also great to see Keith Carradine on the big screen as Curtis’ boss. Katherine Waterston certainly portrayed the mother well as you could feel for her that her life had become a stay-at-home mom and with the introduction of AIA it was too much of a chance to get back to having the life she had before.
AFRAID is a film you may want to check out for something a little different.