With so much action schlock out there in the realm of science fiction it's nice to see a small scale production once in a while; something that has only a handful of sets but just enough interesting ideas. It might have pinched a few visual elements from the video-game Portal, but under the surface it's a suspense movie first before branching into post apocalyptic drama. It worked for 10 Cloverfield Lane and the same is true here despite a much smaller human presence. Of course this kind of storyline is only as strong as its third act reveal where the film tries to expand outside of the bunker and things can get a little shaky. Fortunately there's a plan in place that may or may not have sinister implications for the protagonist.
Mother (voiced by Rose Byrne) is a robot tasked with rebuilding the human race after some unseen end of world scenario. To be honest I could watch a whole movie just about this character working things out and running science projects in an underground facility. It's a great concept and it's a fascinating character design; that has certain obvious human design elements, but others that are very mechanical looking. An eerie digital presence with a single eye is nothing new but the execution is good and the monotone dialogue is reassuring, and threatening, where needed. But the story doesn't end with a series of children being raised and released back into the wild; there's something else going on inside of that plastic casing.
The first child to be created is simply called Daughter (Clara Ruugard). Her role during the teenage years depicted is pretty typical despite all the futuristic trappings. There are school lessons, time with old television shows, and there are the beginnings of youthful rebellion. Mother wants Daughter to be healthy and intelligent; offering lessons in morality and medicine in preparation for a big exam date. But despite being promised a new sibling Daughter has started to become obsessed with the outside world in spite of (or because of) Mother's warnings about the conditions. But Mother's mechanical will isn't something that can be argued with and an incident involving a mouse in the bunker reveals the coldness beneath all that maternal programming.
Things really pick up when a woman... credited as Woman (Hilary Swank) finds her way into the facility and Daughter tries to help her get to safety. There's a lot of conflict to be mined from this situation as Daughter finds that both Woman and Mother might be hiding things about the situation above ground. Maybe there is no contamination outside or maybe this is all a ruse so that bandits can raid the place. Clearly all those ethics classes were intended for a greater purpose but the facts are being hidden or distorted as things go on. Despite the baby lab and artificial intelligence this is just a story about human dilemmas, and that's the greatest strength of the film. Although it does help that the effects and the production design work is very nice.
There are all kinds of neat details from Mother's body having incubator heat panels in the torso or the way it shows Daughter as a child putting stickers on the robot exoskeleton. It's a fairly new looking set and most of the surfaces and pretty slick and glossy. But there are enough tactile elements included to make it believable, whether it's the damage caused by Woman after her arrival or scenes in which Mother needs old parts replaced. The clean and sterile interiors are effectively used to contrast with moments that get very dirty and sinister when cracks start to appear in the facade. Above ground the world isn't shown at any length but it's a welcome change of pace when the state of planet Earth is seen. There are no grand vistas depicting the ruins of civilisation; instead it's restrained and offers the same kind of visual storytelling details.
The big reveals involving the true nature of the operation aren't all incredibly surprising, but Mother's real intentions are at least satisfying once the mystery reaches a conclusion. It's just engrossing enough despite a lot of borrowed components. It also manages to explore some narrative corners involving conflicting parental figures and child rearing that make the title of the film meaningful. It's not just another 'dumped on Netflix' story, but a fully thought out tale with the right amount of intrigue and food for thought along the way. It presses all the right buttons whether this is a drama about human nature and civilisation or just a creepy robot movie. Not everything is as well calculated as Mother might have planned but it's all pretty effective.
If small scale science fiction isn't your thing it might not be quite as compelling, but while it's hardly action packed it's never completely dry and cerebral. The story achieves what the film-makers seem to have had in mind, without it ever overstaying its welcome or over-reaching and getting too silly. The central trio all give solid performances and the mix of human imperfection and artificial over-thinking comes together well. Again it's these contrasts that work as the naive Daughter plays off the grizzled survivor and her clinical robot companion. It's not entirely ground breaking and perhaps not everything is memorable or unique. But despite the similarities to something like Moon it has its own set of revelations that make it interesting. It's a suspenseful and well engineered tale.
4/5
BONUS REVIEW
EL CAMINO (2019)
Speaking of suspense, for some reason there's a Breaking Bad movie. But if the show ended perfectly why does this exist? Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) reached a conclusion and it was pretty good. For whatever reason this serves as an intriguing coda, or maybe even a solid bonus epilogue. It doesn't need to exist but it's not a waste of time either. In fact there's a lot of really good stuff in here, whether it's character moments or individual scenes. Because of the way the show ended of course not all of your old favourites appear, but quite a few of them do. But that also goes to show the target audience for this, it's not really a stand-alone feature at all. Maybe go watch every season and come back; it's worth the time.
For everyone else this is an often grim, often edge of your seat kind of viewing experience, as Jesse tries makes his final escape with the help of a familiar vacuum cleaner salesman (Robert Forster). But things go awry pretty quickly thanks to money problems, suspicious scrap merchants. and a lot of post traumatic stress. For every great character there's an equally great situation whether it's one involving a desperate search for cash in a cordoned off apartment, or the disposal of a body. It leans heavily into the neo-Western and crime thriller flavours that are to be expected, with plenty of stylish photography and excellent pacing. A certain amount of flashbacks are involved as it explores lost time and Jesse's past nightmares, but as things progress it all comes together nicely.
While it might not be a story that needed telling, there still plenty of solid anxiety filled moments along the way. Some of this is flashy like the camera work during Jesse's desperate search. Some of it's more subtle like a darkly funny moment involving a nosy neighbour (Tom Bowers). Some moments are purely fan service but why wouldn't they be? Purely as one last ride and a desperate reach for catharsis the dramatic core is well established after so many low points for its hero. The original ending works just as well, but this isn't a waste of effort either. It might fill in a few blanks that have been created just for the sake of a few extra chapters in Jesse's already dark and twisted journey, but it's all still fascinating and well made. Just think of it as an extra two part special.
4/5
