absorbing and ingenious

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2019)

This clever, thoughtful movie follows Caleb, a computer programmer whose boss hires him to spend a week evaluating the A.I. of a robot. The robot has an exceptionally beautiful face on top of a weird robot body, and the two chat while the brilliant, obnoxious, arrogant boss watches on camera.
Throughout the movie there is the feeling that things aren't as they appear, and the series of reveals at the end are satisfying. They're not so much plot twists and perspective changes, so even though there are surprises they are nicely organic.
The performances and direction are excellent. The script is also, for the most part, although I feel the minor character Kyoko does things that don't make any sense and is essentially a lazy plot device the author uses to get the movie where he wants it. To say more would move into spoilers though, so I'll leave it at that.
I had some trepidation about watching this movie, because I had the feeling it would be depressing, and at times it is. But mainly it's fascinating and involving. Definitely worth checking out.