One concept that has been a staple in sci-fi films is AI. Respectively, how a variety of different AIs will ultimately destroy us all. It’s hard to find a sci-fi movie that deals with this subject and for it not to be us, the humans, fighting for our survival. The Artifice Girl takes a different approach that borderlines on hopeful, but funnily enough, that’s not what the movie is about. It is a movie that can surprise you and show you what can be done on a limited budget.
And that minimal budget shows. It’s not as distracting, and I liked how Franklin Ritch (the writer, director and one of the main actors) managed to squeeze every single cent out of what he had at his disposal and made it work. Sure, at times, you notice the lack of details and the fact the movie is fairly “stationery”, taking place in rooms with no “unnecessary” distractions, but honestly, I didn’t mind that. Or, better said, I didn’t mind it enough to hold it against this film, as what is being said/displayed is more important than the movie’s surroundings.
Without going into “heavy spoilers”, The Artifice Girl starts one way (a guy develops an AI to trap predators and is effectively coerced into working with this agency), but it goes places I didn’t expect. I liked the structure (the movie is split into three distinct chapters that span over several decades), and I thought Tatum Matthews was perfect in her role, adjusting seamlessly to what was asked of her throughout the film. I hope this movie will be a breakthrough for her as I would love to see more of her, and I think it would be interesting to see what else she is capable of as she carries this film.
It’s hard talking about this film whilst trying to stay away from spoilers, but this sci-fi film is different from many that came before it when it comes to dealing with the technology and the implications of having it. It’s almost a mainstream thought that artificial intelligence is not a question of “if” but rather “when”, and this film takes the next step in asking where the line is or if there is one. Once we have an existing artificial intelligence that can think for itself without any input, feel and not mimic feelings, learn, and produce art because it wants to, not because it was designed to do it, is it alive? Can we talk about free will? Or the idea of consent, when we create an AI to do certain tasks, and then it grows and becomes sentient, would consent apply to them as well? These are the questions the film wants you to ponder without giving a definitive yes or no, as it’s not a black-or-white question.
On the surface, The Artifice Girl seems like nothing new under the sun as there have been some movies talking roughly about similar ideas (like Ghost in the Shell (1995, my review here)), but I don’t think I have ever seen a movie that would deal with the idea of consent and AI. It is that kind of movie that can and probably did inspire countless debates about what constitutes being alive… And it does it (mostly) eloquently.
The reason I say mostly is it took me a while to get into the film. I thought for the first roughly 20 minutes, the script was clunky. It was just a mix of exposition and back-and-forth conversation that didn’t flow as well as the filmmaker wanted. And look, it got better after that, plus this was Franklin’s first feature script; therefore, I will cut him some slack. But yeah, if you take a chance on this movie and find yourself in the same boat as me during the first third of this film (intrigued by what’s happening but not being fully “in it”), stick with it; it does get better. Both the second and third chapters feel more organic, the dialogue feels more natural, and the back-and-forth between all our main protagonists feels much smoother.
But aside from that, I can’t say anything negative about this movie. It will be fascinating to see how well (or poorly) this ages, as again, this is one of the few movies that doesn’t see the event of singularity as “doom and gloom for the rest of us”. I truly hope this movie is correct, rather than something like the Terminator franchise. 😉
Overall, The Artifice Girl is a fascinating indie sci-fi that despite its minuscule budget and slightly awkward first 20 minutes, delivered on its premise and beyond. The movie surprised me at times and made me think about AI and ideas we don’t associate with it (like consent) and how we will be “forced” to have these conversations in the future when we reach the singularity. I also liked Tatum Matthews and hope to see more of her in bigger films, I think she has the talent to do great things. If you have never heard of this movie and fancy a great sci-fi, give this a chance.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke