In the first and/or second edition of each month, I plan on taking a look at some recent releases that I haven’t checked out as of yet, along with a couple that I have initially reviewed that I may revisit! Most of these recent releases will be from 2020 to current, with possibly a couple from 2019 (still can’t believe that 2019 is now 7 years ago!).
In the 2024 Blumhouse “thriller” ‘Afraid,’ Curtis and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new home device: a digital family assistant called AIA.
Taking smart homes to the next level, once the unit and all its sensors and cameras are installed in their home, AIA seems able to do it all. She learns the family’s behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs.
And she can make sure nothing - and no one - gets in her family’s way.
‘Afraid’ (or marketed as ‘AfrAId’) has received quite a few negative reactions and has actually been something I wanted to check out since I saw the movie was available on Netflix. So, before I got rid of my Netflix subscription, I decided to finally give this probably forgotten 2024 movie a chance.
Now, I’ll admit ‘Afraid’ does have a couple interesting plot points. Some of the movie talks about deepfake technology (a couple pivotal scenes with the father’s daughter) and how slowly A.I. can take over. After seeing the A.I. becoming a little corrupt and self-aware, I kept thinking that this could actually be an OK watch - despite the self-aware A.I. being predictable.
After a couple of interesting moments and plot points, this “thriller” ended up just becoming really mediocre and quite bland at times. There are quite a few predictable little moments, especially once AIA becomes more aware and even when those moments should be intriguing and thrilling, they’re not.
Even with the scenes were the A.I. becomes aware, there is very little suspense or tension. There’s a subplot of a mysterious RV featuring a couple individuals that is seen wherever AIA ends up and the “reveal” of the RV individuals lacks any kind of surprise. This was a movie that I was kind of hoping would be kind of decent. The premise is interesting and a plot of a rogue A.I. can be scary if done right. But, ‘Afraid’ almost makes Blumhouse’s other A.I. movie, ‘M3GAN’ look like a masterpiece (even though that movie was actually not too bad).
Cast: John Cho (Curtis); Katherine Waterston (Meredith); Keith Carradine (Marcus); Lukita Maxwell (Iris); Ashley Romans (Sam); Wyatt Lindner (Preston); Issac Bae (Cal); Havana Rose Liu (Melody/voice of AIA); Bennet Curran (Sawyer); Greg Hill (Henry); Riki Lindhome (Maud); David Dastmalchian (Lightning)
Writer/director: Chris Weitz (the writer of ‘The Creator;’ Disney Plus’ ‘Pinocchio’; ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’)
Trivia: The title of the movie was originally ‘They Listen.’ In the trailer, when the family opens the box to reveal AIA for the first time, it says “Hello, World.” This is a reference to the first program most people write when learning to code or starting in a new programming language. It’s one of the most basic programs a person can write, and serves not only as a first step for novices, but also a confirmation that the development environment is set up correctly.
Where to find the movie? If you are curious about ‘Afraid,’ you can either rent the movie from various PVOD platforms or stream it on Netflix.
‘Afraid’ is rated PG-13 for sexual material, some strong violence, some strong language and thematic material (running time 84 minutes)
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