Movie Name/Year: I Am Mother (2019)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length: 113 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production/Distribution: Netflix, StudioCanal, The Penguin Empire, Southern Light Films, Rhea Films, Southern Light Alliance
Director: Grant Sputore
Writers: Grant Sputore, Michael Lloyd Green
Actors: Hilary Swank, Clara Rugaard, Rose Byrne, Tahlia Sturzaker, Jacob Nolan, Summer Lenton, Hazel Sandery
Blurb from IMDb: A teenage girl is raised underground by a kindly robot "Mother" -- designed to repopulate the earth following the extinction of mankind. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Cat's Point of View:
The trailer for this film had my sci-fi loving heart
aflutter. I held onto my inner optimist tightly, in hopes that the movie would
deliver as promised.
The payoff? Impressive.
Had I not looked I Am
Mother up on IMDb for article research post-viewing, I would never have dreamed
that this was the feature directorial debut for Grant Sputore (Kill Me Three Times, Legacy, Castaway¹).
This particular dystopian future was engrossing right away.
Dread filled the first moments as the audience is both literally and
figuratively kept in the dark. Threads of hope were expertly woven into the rug
that eventually gets pulled from beneath our feet with the twists and turns the
story takes.
The concept of A.I. interacting with humanity is not a new
theme for big nor small screens; but this movie views the idea from a new
perspective. Is machine-manufactured nurturing possible? This definitely wasn’t
rehashing The Terminator (1984) or The Matrix (1999).
I loved the female-led cast. Clara Rugaard (The Lodge, Still Star-Crossed, Teen Spirit)
deftly captured the essence of Daughter, and had me hanging on her every
decision. I’m interested to see where her career goes from here. Hilary Swank (P.S. I Love You, Amelia, Logan Lucky)
was a great choice for the character crashing the party, so to speak. Her role
was gritty and visceral. The dynamic between the two drove the plot well
through its twists and turns. We don’t see Rose Byrne (Knowing, Damages, Peter Rabbit) on the screen, but her voice croons
to us as the embodiment of Mother. Her
tone, both soothing and firm, makes you want to believe everything Mother is
telling us, and at the same time provides the ideal seed of doubt. We all question
when something is too perfect, right?
My only nitpick about the whole film was that it left me
wanting more. I had so many questions still. The film was a little on the long
side but at the same time, I could have kept watching. With the steady pacing
of the majority of the film, the ending felt a bit jarring – as if the tale
stopped short.
I Am Mother was
quite the roller-coaster ride that I definitely wouldn’t mind taking again. I
am hoping that Sputore builds on this momentum and continues to bring us
nuanced and interesting stories like this one.
(¹ - Castaway (2011)
refers to the TV series, not the feature film)
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 90%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 73%
Metascore – 62/100
Metacritic User Score – 7.1/10
IMDB Score – 6.9/10
CinemaScore – None
Trust the Dice: Cat's Rating – 4.5/5
Movie Trailer:
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