Another Level Different Atmosphere

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2014)

"Her" follows Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), an increasingly lonely man whose wife, Catherine (Rooney Mara), has left him. Still clinging onto a relationship that has clearly ended, he refuses to sign their divorce papers. One day, in a desperate attempt to alleviate his loneliness, he decides to purchase an operating system that he can install and speak to, whom he calls Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). As the two speak, he begins to fall in love with her, despite the fact that she's nothing more than a computerized voice. She begins to reciprocate those feelings and finds in her a desire to be alive, which is obviously something she'll never be able to obtain.
That's a sad thought, to want something so bad, but know that it will never happen. But it's a beautiful sadness, one that is contemplative and poignant, especially because being alive is all Theo wants too. "Her" understands that being alive isn't simply in existing, but in the interactions with other people in our lives and the love that grows from those relationships. If we don't have someone to care about or that cares for us, are we really alive?