Mother / Android, the new Netflix movie, shows an emotional side of the usual apocalypse trope. It also tries to show novel angles without quite succeeding. But be it because of the good interpretation of the always solid Chloë Grace Moretz or because of appealing to the emotional aspect, the movie is a success. It is also a reminder of the importance of science fiction in today’s cinema.
Despite good intentions, Mother / Android he can’t get over his biggest problems. In particular, to build a technological and dystopian universe at the height of its ambitions. Despite having a more than clear interest in exploring new spaces of what pessimistic speculation refers to, it is unable to do so. Perhaps it is due to the constant reference to bigger and better films. Or the fact that the director has obvious problems in sustaining his premise.
Whatever the case, the film is flawed in several different ways. Still, it is the ideal excuse to browse the Netflix catalog and look for other options in a fascinating genre. Were you one of those who saw Mother / Android on the weekend and looking for high-caliber sci-fi options? We leave you a selection of five Netflix movies that delve into some of its premises with greater property and quality. Some that will also amaze you for their intelligence and good creative work.
I am mother
After an almost total extermination of the human race, a scientific project tries to create a new possibility of life. And it does so by leaving the care of the new generation of human beings at the hands of artificial intelligence. The premise carefully embraces the idea of the precariousness of the future, but also analyzes the conception of good and bad in a technological future.
One of the smartest points of the Netflix movie is his way of delving into the possible emotional relationships between A.A. and human beings. The perception is strange, harrowing and ultimately tragic. However, it reaches a raw point of intelligence and narrative power that is astonishing in its effectiveness.
Ghost in the Shell: the soul of the machine
We know it: it will never be able to surpass its version in anime. But the version of Rupert Sanders is not negligible. And although she had to face a myriad of criticism due to the selection of Scarlett Johansson for the title role, his performance is solid. Also the recreation of artificial intelligence, in the midst of an ultra-technical future in which consciousness is a piece of data within a system.
Yes Mother / Androide surprised by the possibility of a war between machines and the human race, this Netflix movie is a look at the other side of the spectrum.
Oxygen
Again, artificial intelligence faces humans. Especially when the former has complete and ruthless control over the life of an unsuspecting victim. With its tense, harrowing and wicked atmosphere, Aja’s Netflix film also reinvents the trope of isolation and the fight against technology into something new.
It is a disturbing journey, which transposes the idea about the security that cutting-edge technology and its risks could – should – provide. But also, about the fears that lurk in the twisted points of machine control on the fallibility of the human mind.
War of the Worlds
The umpteenth adaptation of the work of HG Wells also it is one of the best. In particular, by the way in which Spielberg reconstructs the sense of horror of the fight for survival against invincible forces. The movie starring Tom Cruise and a brilliant Dakota Fanning, is a prodigy of good visual and plot decisions.
Not only does he elaborate the idea of fear of the unknown from a different point of view. Also, it runs through the presumption about total annihilation by unknown technology from an almost intimate point of view.
Stowaway
As the name of this Netflix film indicates, it is a journey through space where everything ends up getting complicated, due to a stowaway. Penna achieves a new and neat sense of urgency, fear, and perception of danger. In addition, a minimalist staging that is effectively sustained.