A teenage girl is raised by a robot designed to repopulate Earth. Their bond is tested when a stranger arrives with alarming news.
There is nothing like a good science fiction film to make an audience contemplate the future and the multitude of moral and ethical implications that would be brought in by evolving technologies. Combine that with humanity going through an extinction-level event, and it creates so many intriguing questions and "what if" scenarios that only a lack of creativity in the script or poor acting can drag down sci-fi.
I Am Mother is a new Netflix Original sci-fi flick, and it battles with the complexity of the human condition. You only need to watch the news (or even social media) to see the conflict that the human race lives within; we want clean water and air, but we want money and wealth. We want safety but are willing to dominate and subjugate others to ensure that safety. We want to be fit and healthy, but abhor exercise and eat unhealthy convenient "foods". The human race is full of contradictions between our intentions and our actions, so it raises the question; if the human race were to be near enough wiped out, and there was an opportunity to repopulate the Earth from scratch, how would you teach them? What ideals would you covet? How would you mould the human race version 2.0 to prevent extinction again?
These are the ideas that make me love sci-fi and are the ideas that underpin I Am Mother, a film that works with a very minimal cast. In fact, with the majority of the film taking place within a bunker, there are many comparisons that could be made to 10 Cloverfield Lane. It is a definite slow burn and falls quite squarely in the drama category, which is much rarer for a sci-fi.
The strength of the film comes from the relationship between Mother and Daughter. The simplicity of the initial story makes the characters incredibly relatable. You look past Mother's cold metal exterior to see the devoted parental figure trying to learn the correct way to raise her human. Daughter is the picture of innocence and naivety, knowing only what she has been taught by Mother, her entire foundation of knowledge is rocked when a third party with conflicting information enters the fray. The story follows Daughter's attempts to discover the truth and is riddled with twist after twist.
With only two human cast involved in the film, Hillary Swank's character was surprisingly underutilised. Her performance was good but failed to really lead to a satisfying payoff. Overall, the film still gave enough to keep the audience interested throughout.
Visually, I Am Mother is a gorgeous film. The colouring and cinematography are brilliant, creating an authentic looking scientific shelter, with diverse room layouts, and Mother's design is both functional and efficient. There is a flawless combination of CGI and practical effects, and the movements flow beautifully.
I Am Mother leaves you wanting more, leaves a few questions unanswered, and puts forward some great ethical and moral dilemmas. Visually stunning with some highly relatable characters, this is well worth checking out.