This isn't a typical film I would review on this horror focussed website. I do however sometimes stick my feet into other genres if I feel they are interesting enough subjects. With the Franklin Ritch written and directed The Artifice Girl you have moral quandaries about A.I and free will, a story somewhat similar to Ex Machina, though one more sentimental than what that turned into.
The film begins with a man, Gareth (Ritch) being questioned by two officers who are focussed on capturing online child predators. Deena (Sinda Nichols) and Amos (David Girard) know the man is hiding a secret but the revelation is something neither are prepared for. Gareth had been trapping predators and then giving evidence to the group anonymously, and it had been assumed he had been using a young girl as part of his process. It turns out however that the girl, Cherry (Tatum Matthews) isn't actually real, she is instead an A.I that Gareth had created. With the film split into three acts, set over fifty years, it charts the transition of this construct, and her increasing evolution into a real person.
This was described in the press release as a cerebral sci-fi thriller and with the entirety of the movie taking place in just three small rooms that is the case. There is lots and lots and lots of dialogue here, with mainly the cast of four characters talking in depth about what it is to be alive, and self awareness. The first act alone is forty minutes in a dark tiny room with no decoration to it, yet the subject matter meant this still remained interesting. The second act, with a fifteen year time jump moves the events to another equally small room for a further twenty five minutes, before it does the final time skip of another twenty five years which for a change has a more light and airy setting.
The characters fall into several types, with Gareth being perhaps the least noble of them in terms of how he views Cherry. To him, she was created to serve a singular purpose, and her increasing awareness of herself as a person gives him struggles. His own personal demons have been transferred to the A.I, with him accepting her 'aliveness', but still seeing her as a tool. Amos on the other hand is almost the opposite, even before she becomes self aware he isn't able to see her as just a computer program, and the character of Deena is more in the middle, acting as a more neutral voice.
Usually I can't stand child actors, but with Matthews you had someone who seemed to effortlessly be able to change between the stages of her development. Each transition felt believable, and having her as a non-aging persona worked well, set against the increasing ages of the human characters. It leads to the third act that sees film legend Lance Henriksen (Aliens) take on the role of an elderly Gareth, a pivotal act that brings the film full circle.
With a film as wordy as this one it was essential the characters were chosen well, and with The Artifice Girl you have that. One complaint really is how sentimental this all is, there are a few scenes of violence, but it was violence served to sell a point, there is not really any discussion into any type of threat a true 'super intelligence' A.I might pose. The human characters may be flawed but they are people with good goals.
If you are after a ninety five minute 'what-if' on how a true A.I may come to be, this makes for a fascinating film. It is very wordy though and there isn't too much going on at all outside of this laser focussed story. With a great choice of actors, surprisingly, especially with Matthews, this was a very interesting delve into the topic of A.I, slightly exhausting to watch, but well made, and believable for the most part, at least for such an optimistic outlook on A.I. The Artifice Girl will be available to buy or rent on digital platforms on May 1st, from Vertigo Releasing.
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