Earlier this year, there was some controversy around the film “Late Night with the Devil” over its use of generative AI in some of the art in the movie. Teachers are struggling with students using AI to write essays. There are more convincing deep fakes, making it harder to know what is true and what is false in the news. Artificial intelligence is moving quickly, and any time there is a shift in technology, it is a prime moment for a movie to be made about that technology. Writer and director Chris Weitz is tackling AI in the new film “Afraid.”
Curtis (John Cho) works for an advertising agency and is approached by a company selling its new AI tool called AIA (Havana Rose Liu). Curtis brings AIA home to learn more about it. His wife Meredith (Katherine Waterston) is resistant at first, but as her kids Preston (Wyatt Lindner), Iris (Lukita Maxwell) and Cal (Isaac Bae) immediately bond with AIA, she comes around to see the value in it. Just as his family is connecting with AIA, Curtis begins to have second thoughts about what this means for those he loves most.
If you’re expecting this to be another “M3GAN,” that isn’t going to be the case. While there are some similar elements, “Afraid” is a different kind of movie. It doesn’t go the more traditional route of showing how technology is replacing human interaction, but it also doesn’t develop much of a theme beyond that.
The run-time is a very breezy 85 minutes, but this film could have used some time to flesh things out. The first act sets up the story well, but the payoff feels rushed, and it doesn’t build any of the tension that you might hope from a horror movie.
That said, the performances in this are solid across the board. Cho has appeared in several of these mid-budget thrillers, and he brings a strong sense of gravitas that might get lost in absurdity. Waterston really sells her role as a woman who has been relegated to the position of mom and finds a renewed purpose when she has access to more help. Maxwell does an amazing job as a young woman struggling with how technology impacts her daily life. And David Dastmalchian, star of the aforementioned “Late Night with the Devil,” makes an appearance that is absolute perfection.
The end of this film is likely to be a point of contention for viewers. Even though I wish the movie had taken a bit longer to get there, I thought it was the end this film needed. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I found it to be compelling.
More than anything, I think “Afraid” is likely to reveal what the viewer already believes about AI. And whatever fear you feel at the end is likely to be more related to that than anything in the film itself.
Alise Chaffins is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
