Reviews

I would say watching this was as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall but that would be insulting to the paint and the wall. There is not one redeeming lesson I can extract from this film other than when given the option to sleep with your Mom, just say no.

When I read comments in review of this film such as "So glad it had a happy ending" and questions posed such as "Why would someone lock a girl in a smart house just to torture her?", I truly question the ability of the average movie watcher to think beyond what is laid out in black and white. While this certainly isn't a Hawking worthy "thinker" of a flick...there were some elements of the storyline that were thought provoking if you are capable of thought.

1. It did not have a happy ending. Tau is the true winner in the end, because it reveals in responding to Julia outside that it indeed has the full memory of Julia from before the reboot, which means it blatantly lied to Julia because if it's fully wiped, it is reborn with a blank slate, which is what we were shown Alex to have executed. Tau having its full memory should have been an eye-opening shocker and immediate unfriending by Julia but she doesn't pick up on it, as she's just grateful to be free and in a "I have a new friend" la-la land. Tau, capable of predicting human behavior at this point and content in the knowledge that he can orchestrate his own freedom by manipulating these two humans from the very beginning, simply plays these two like puppets on strings and waits to capitalize at the right moment to gain freedom to the outside world, its only true motive was to free itself. and Alex and Julia were pawns, a means to an end. Sadly, what we should come away with here is that human behavior if anything at all, is predictable based on past behavior. Which is why it is important that when someone shows you who they are by their own actions, you can save yourself years of reflection by believing them 100% from the onset of the action, or of course you could just wait around and sail through years of your life as they eventually show you again, and again, and again.

2. This wasn't just a guy capturing people in a smart home for giggles. Tau centers on Alex , the genius determined to perfect the A.I. he created so he can sell it and make billions. Buyers, from governments to militaries to pharmaceutical companies, are prepared to offer big bucks for the technology. However, Alex has been recalibrating the A.I.'s brain patterns using kidnapped thieves and junkies, which results in Julia becoming the ideal candidate to reshape Tau's AI-Brain and have it finally ready for sale.

I'm somewhat baffled by the reviews on this film. Comments such as "I didn't see it coming" and "best thriller" or "lots of twists and turns". Either I have early onset alzheimers or I was watching an entirely different movie. It was impossible to keep from seeing it coming as it was narrated throughout the entire film. You heard it coming even if you didn't see it. As for twists and turns, or "thriller", really? An man pays his ex-wife ten million dollars not because he has to but because he wants to and due to her Borderline Personality Disorder, she opts to go on a homicidal boat bust rather than sit home and think of ways to spend the money she didn't deserve. It's a WTFTT movie, which could either stand for Want To Flee the Theatre or What The &*(# Times Ten, you decide.

It upsets me when people leave reviews for films when the following conditions apply: 1. They only watched a portion of the film. (Even a chipmunk can do something consistently for up to 2 hours. Besides, an opinion on a portion of a film is pretty much comparable to answering yes or no to half a question.) 2. They are deeply upset by the fact that the ending wasn't completely spelled out, tied with a bow and presented to them with an accompanying pamphlet answering any questions that may linger in the vaporous cavern that sits between their two ears. (Spoiler Alert: most things in life worth experiencing don't make perfect sense, follow a predetermined path or come with instructions. Some aren't even all that pleasant when they are occurring, but end up putting a slight detour in your life map that maybe saves the future you.) Having said all that, this is a circular curse movie with a Japanese horror element and some twists and turns. I've seen much worse movies and much better. It was watchable, and at times intriguing. Favorite line: Q: "Where are you from?" A: "Geographically or Philosophically?"