Movie Review Essay Example: I Am Mother
We're concerned about robots taking over our work, but how much more disturbing is the possibility of robots taking over our most important family roles, including mothers? I Am Mother's script, which was the Sundance Film Festival (where Netflix picked it up), In its essence, this film is about the damnation of prescribing motherhood as an expected role. How telling a woman she must love and nurture without hesitation can lead them down a very dark path.
The plot of the film is simple enough; after a mysterious extinction phenomenon leaves the outside world decimated, a robot (Rose Byrne) tasked with raising thousands of human embryos chooses to raise a single subject as her child. Known only as Mother and Daughter (Clara Rugaard), the pair grow a special bond as Daughter develops into a highly intelligent and gifted teenager, with Mother stating she will awaken the other embryos when Daughter is ready to help raise them.
Their idyllic existence is threatened when a mysterious outsider (Hilary Swank) comes knocking on the door; revealing the world outside is not what Mother made it out to be. Daughter as she navigates the power struggle between two potential mothers: one offering safety and self - actualization, the other promising freedom and companionship and both telling half-truths about their motivations. Enterprising audiences can also seek deeper lessons in the story of what being a good parent entail. All these juicy ideas in the movie are supported by the futuristic yet claustrophobic set design of the movie which includes, the director, the script and the production design of the movie.
Ever watched Terminator 2? or Cloverfield Lane? Well, I Am Mother is concerning those two and like 10 other sci-fi films, simply because the original story pulls so heavily from pretty much every sci-fi trope in the bag, and while Clara Rugaard delivers a striking lead performance and director Grand Sputore handsomely crafts the film for the screen. According to www. Metacritic.com, I Am Mother was number 74 on the most shared movies of 2019 and number 47 on the most discussed movie of 2019. When I first watched the new Netflix film, I Am Mother, I assumed that the robotic mother was a CG creation.
How else could you create a robot that looked so inhuman, and that could also run around the film's post-apocalypse environments so gracefully? But in a bonus interview for the original Content Podcast, director Grant Sputore estimated that 99 percent of the shots of the mother are completely practical, consisting of nothing more than a person wearing a “fancy bit of custom” I Am Mother grabs the attention of no other robotics versus human film. The three-female lead performances of the film, however, gives this movie the gravitas it needs. Rugaard portrays Daughter with a disturbing degree of autonomy- her gestures, attitudes, and social interactions are essentially robotic (as a result of being raised by a robot, of course). Assuming that robots are intelligent and have very high intellectual skills, the way they portrayed the daughter to be you would believe that she is a robot but with the appearance of a human. Daughter has been trained in advanced engineering and medical skills, as well as the intricacies of moral philosophy.
The film opens with mother breaking open an egg and birthing the first of those stored humans, followed by a bravura opening sequence as we see mother nurture the little egg from howling baby to giggling toddler to a curious child, all in the space of the opening credits. It boldly sets the tone for just how smart this movie is, and how well thought out the world of the bunker is. Shot in an ominous gray and scarlet palette, the bunker is a closed-off location bursting Drama. Writer Michael Lloyd Green and director Grant Sputore wring tension from the shut-in situation. Is mother the nurturing figure she says?
What’s outside? And how will the mother react if her daughter turns against her? What makes the script well organized and attractively unique is how the director put together a more diverse outlook on robots. We tend to see robots in other movies usually being the bad guy or being the ones to destroy everything but, in this scenario, Mother is pertained to be a good robot who wants to change humanity and raise humans into being highly intelligent and well skilled in all areas. At the beginning and mid-scene mother is seen using her teaching and mentor ethics on daughter so she can make sure Daughter turns out to be suitable for the next generation.
I Am Mother exudes visual sophistication – especially with its intriguing and well-suited production design. Simple yet extremely effective are its special effects. Mother's design and movements are unnerving but also comforting—matched with the calming voice of Rose Byrne, the audience should give her their faith. The technical elements of this film come together efficiently and cohesively. The visual contrast between the moral and artificial is subliminally executed.
Many tend to reject any ending where good doesn’t win, it is the best thing about the film. The thing that makes it more than just a smashing production design portfolio or a series of things that just happen. (it seems the daughter isn’t the first daughter that mother has messed up.) It also acknowledges the relative impossibility of humans defeating an upper strong super-intelligent robot army that they created. Now the “Daughter” of the creature contemplates triggering the embryos themselves, probably becoming the matriarchal ruler of her nation-state one that could be able to oppose the robots that once tormented her kind. It also gives the mother (robot) human mother like instincts towards the daughter.
We see mother hugging her, cradling her, teaching her to read. Despite the director's unironic approach, it’s hard not to consider an inherent cynicism at play; swapping a human mother for a robot changes everything.The way the movie sets up and pays off its last ten minutes seems like an invitation to dream and plan, which is what real science fiction (as supposed to science fiction and horrors) does best. Fans of Ex Machina and other cerebral sci-fi movies will find another favorite here. The lead actress makes a stunning debut and carries the film, with Hilary Swank in a supporting role. The film constantly has you changing allegiances, unsure of who to trust. The Final results then become super satisfying. According to the Los Angeles Times (This film engages and challenges the audience throughout, raising questions about the relationship between humanity and the technology we rely on. It's an exciting film to watch, but an even better one to think about after. (Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times June 20, 2019).
Works Cited
www.metacritics.com I Am Mother. Netflix release date (streaming) June 7 TV-14.
Noel, Murray. “I am mother review.” Los Angeles Times: (June 20, 2019)
