Delayed Reaction: I Am Mother

Premise: A girl is raised by a robot in isolation for her entire life. Then, one day, another human shows up...

I love talking about the "Sundance movie" archetype. You know, a coming-of-age story about someone with a messed-up family life. Largely set in LA or New York. Starring prominent TV comedy actors or supporting movie actors looking for meatier, more dramatic roles. More generally, they have a short story feeling, like the movie doesn't have enough going on to be a novel.

I think it's about time to create another type. I'm calling it the Sundance SciFi movie. It has its own similar set of definitions. It's a not too distant future. There's a human who is isolated for some reason until another person or thing interrupts his/her situation. It involves limited locations and most of the tension revolves around who to trust. These are movies like Moon, Z for Zacharia, or I am Mother. Ex Machina is actually a South by Southwest premiere, but it's certainly a cousin of Sundance SciFi. I liked all these movies, but there is a familiarity to them. Watching I Am Mother, I kept feeling like I'd seen the movie before. I didn't predict how it was going to end (I'm quite bad at that guessing game). Instead, I was distinctly aware of all the ways the story could play out. It's like reading a choose-you-own-adventure book after you've already read through each page linearly.

So, no. Nothing about I Am Mother surprised me. That's fine. I still got to listen to the soothing sounds of Rose Byrne throughout. Clara Rugaard does a good job showing her curiosity winning out against her trust in Mother. Hilary Swank successfully stops short of ever letting the audience trust her. The occasional visual effects and simple but futuristic production design were well done. However, it would've been nice for them to find some weird turn like figuring out the closed loop in Predestination, Ava trapping Caleb in Ex Machina, or whatever the hell happens in Primer. I suppose the implication that Mother planned Hilary Swank's arrival is the closest thing to that. Even that was more of an "ok" than an "a-ha" though.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend