MPAA: PG13.
Release Date: 08/30/24 [Cinemas]
Genre: Horror. Mystery. SciFi. Thriller.

Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing. 

THE PREMISE:

"The Curtis' family is selected to test a new home device: a digital assistant called AIA. AIA learns the family's behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs. And she can make sure nothing - and no one - gets in her family's way." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

Afraid is a simple movie with a simple title that, when you try to talk about it, causes as much confusion as trying to interface with your barely functional 8 year old first-gen Amazon Echo Dot.

A man who works at a marketing firm is tasked with taking home a client’s state of the art smart home device as a trial run to bid for the account. The family is skeptical at first, but AIA (pronounced “eye-uh”) wins the trust of the family by showing how convenient she will make their lives. Of course, things aren’t quite as they seem between the enigmatic tech company and AIA becoming a bit too attached to its chosen family. With a concept this relevant backed by the strong cast including John Cho, Katherine Waterston, and Havana Rose Liu, I couldn’t help but have faith in this film. Knowing how much M3GAN won the hearts of audiences, I expected Blumhouse to bestow us with a spiritual cousin in Afraid. Unfortunately this film comes with one fatal flaw. AIA lacks any clear motivation. 

You know the drill with AI in movies; it becomes self aware and eventually realizes that humanity is futile and humans need to be eradicated. We’ve been doing this since 2001. Not the year, but the movie- which actually gets a reference in the dialogue. AIA’s goal is to help the family in theory, but is revealed to be… world domination? Yeah, she controls everything, we get it. But why does she need to? It doesn’t tread any new ground that audiences aren’t already aware of when it comes to the dangers of AI and our plugged-in society at large. There are some interesting concepts explored such as modern parenting and limiting screen time. There were also moments of jestful critique at tech startups and the weirdos who sometimes run them. The dangers of social media and repercussions of things like deepfaking. But with its lifeless plot, Afraid didn’t really break the barrier to be thought provoking beyond simple cause and effect.

The third act shows Afraid’s true colors, fading away its shock factor when it should be ramping up tension. Not to mention, the most shocking scenes struggle to move the needle since they were given away in the trailer. I hate to nitpick, but there are some plot holes too big to leap over. How can AIA communicate through an FM radio? I thought it was connected via Wi-Fi. There was an opportunity for analog tech to save the day and humanity to prevail, but Afraid chose a different route. Yes, there are some provocative moments that would have tied things together well enough had it not been for a watery motivation and lame execution. I had hoped for a witty, relevant, easily digestible little thriller. But sadly, It’s nothing you haven’t already seen in the Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House back in 1999.

Afraid is in theaters now, but view at your own risk.