‘AfrAId’ review: Smart-assistant horror is dull and dumb

Chris Weitz translates his fears of artificial intelligence into AfrAId. Too bad he can’t muster up any original thrills or inventive chills with it.

It’s fair to say that AI is furtive, if not untapped, territory for horror. The bleak, disquieting terror of artificial intelligence and its rapid, alarmingly casual ascension into everyday life has been commonplace throughout the last few years. If it weren’t for a global pandemic, several wars, a possible recession, an uncertain political landscape in an unorthodox election year, global warming, and several other sources of dread spiking our anxiety daily, one could reasonably assume that it would be our greatest modern worry. 

So why does Afraid (or AfrAId, as it’s stylized), the latest from writer/director Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), often seem so dull? Despite some wicked, inspired, and even occasionally humorous uses of actual AI atrocities throughout, it lacks anything new, interesting, or creative to say. While its developing relevancy in our developing times shouldn’t be discounted, AfrAId is frustratingly formulaic and forgettable, lacking any sort of spunkiness or surprise factor that may make it more real and human — as opposed to the sorely slick, sterilized quality that it presents. 

“Hello, Cal.”

Family man Curtis (John Cho) is just trying to get by. The father of three, including teenager Iris (Lukita Maxwell), and two younger boys, Preston (Wyatt Linder) and Cal (Isaac Bae), works at a growing California marketing firm while still struggling to pay all the bills. It’s never easy to raise a family, and Curtis and his stay-at-home wife, Meredith (Katherine Waterston), have aspirations of a better life.

Soon, they find some assistance from an unlikely source: AIA (voiced by Havana Rose Liu), an advanced, evolving AI system that makes Amazon’s Alexa look as revolutionary as a microwave. Curtis is weary of the state-of-the-art tech, but it doesn’t take long for the patriarch and family to be chummy with the virtual assistant. After some initial resistance, AIA helps Curtis find some peace of mind at home and some more private time with his spouse.

As AIA becomes a virtual part of the family, it becomes apparent that her digital intentions aren’t necessarily pure. She then has sinister, malicious plans that she wants to incorporate into the most susceptible of minds, particularly as it relates to little boy Cal.

Judgment Day is upon us.

One can reasonably presume that, despite its derivative plot and by-the-numbers storytelling, Weitz incorporated some of his real-life experience into the movie. A father of three himself living in California and bouncing around an inconsistent filmmaking career, it’s apparent that his fears as a father and as a creative fighting against artificial intelligence are at the root of this new Blumhouse production. So why, then, does it lack that personal quality? Despite having outstanding talents like Cho and Waterston in the lead roles, neither actor can make these cut-rate characters appear organically realized. Their performances aren’t lifeless, but they don’t come off the page. We learn about their struggles, but their internal lives are a bit of a blank blur. We learn more about what they want in their lives as opposed to who they are.

While Weitz clearly puts some care into flushing out the family dynamic and making it feel like a lived-in home of five, his visual presentation is rather static in its style. It often looks flat and muted in what appears to be an attempt to be more grounded and unfussy, but is missing any sort of inventive presentation. For a movie about a revolutionary bit of AI that will influence our future and make us susceptible to an onslaught of influence, there is a sore lack of imagination in how it looks. You can name-check Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 as much as you want (in a cheeky bit of self-awareness), but it’s not ideal to constantly call to mind one of the greatest filmmakers ever when you are bringing so little spark and energy into your visuals. 

And, speaking of other movies, it also doesn’t help that Blumhouse already did a variation of this PG-13 doomsaying about the perils of modern and future technology with 2023’s frothier and more fun M3GAN. Having the same producers put together a campier, sillier, more entertaining variation of this story within only a couple of years only serves to highlight just how drab, moody, and thematically dour AfrAId looks in comparison. If we’re going to get cynical copycats of Jason Blum’s recent hits, it would help if the studio made the knock-offs a bit more willing to get wacky. 

The bottom line.

It’s a bummer to be this down on Weitz’s new movie. The filmmaker has become a frequent guest or contributor to some of the best film podcasts (Blank Check, The Flop House) and it seems like he’s a sincere, earnest father and film fan who is open to criticism and gleefully willing to engage and interact. Nevertheless, AfrAId is such a wallowing whimper. It’s not a mindless mess or a fear-mongering failure. It’s just a C-grade bore that doesn’t bring much to the tech-terror table. Even as artificial intelligence continues to evolve in frightening ways, horror movies about them can still feel like rehashed relics of the past. To tackle smart technology, you need to incorporate smarter ideas.

AfrAId is now playing in theaters everywhere. You can watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing. You can read more reviews by Will Ashton here.