Mother/Android was released to the US streaming platform Hulu on the 17th of December 2021. Since then, Netflix (AU & UK) has been streaming the apocalyptic thriller as well. Audiences have been less than thrilled with this science fiction movie. Most ratings websites like IMBd and Rotten Tomatoes score it under a 5 out of 10. I must admit, the only thing that excited me about this story of an android uprising was that Mother/Android cast Chloë Grace Moretz among its lead stars.
It must be said that I was expecting a very different narrative from the one writer-director Mattson Tomlin delivered. And it also must be said that I for one am finding stories of an evil empire of droids destroying the Earth and taking over becoming tiresome. Like I get it. We as a society should beware of the foreshadowing of fiction novels. Those science fiction stories are the ones that tell us that civilization will be a thing of the past.
We should never let robots serve us. Humans are petty and futile and will never withstand an AI mutiny. Especially when we are least expecting it. And that is how Mother/Android begins. At a party with Georgia and Sam upstairs in the bathroom painstakingly talking about the positive results of a pregnancy test.
If In Doubt, Place the Device in Some Rice
Enter the apocalypse. This apocalypse starts suddenly and violently with the server droids ferociously attacking anyone within reach. Sam (Algee Smith) and Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) discover a very different future for themselves and their unborn child among the rubble, shelters, and carnage. Always on the run. They need to get to Boston because that’s where they heard of people who will provide them shelter and stability. All they want is to bring their baby into this new world without being mowed down by killer robots.
If only they could find somewhere to have their baby before it comes out crying and alerting said killer robots. But right as Georgia is about to pop, Sam finds himself on the wrong side of an Army Fight Club in the woods. They are unceremoniously kicked out of their new home away from home and thrust into the thick of “no man’s land.”
There is nothing but tension to drive Mother/Android along. Tension and Chloë Grace Moretz’s calm and intoxicating demeanor. At each precipice of the storyline, danger awaits. High-caliber dread is around every corner spurred along by the fact Georgia is now overdue on the release of her baby. She could go into labor at any minute.
Will it be when she is hiding in the forest from the speedy zombie-like droids who want to quash her life force? Or will it be when she decides to rescue the father of her unborn baby instead of saving herself? While much of this science fiction tale of doom and gloom is tightly woven into a fast-paced race against time there is nothing of substance to our heroes apart from the overwhelming depressing sentiment that humans need other humans. If humans don’t have other humans they will shrivel up and die.
Mother/Android Trailer
Watch the Mother/Android trailer and then see the movie on Netflix (AU and UK) from the 7th of January 2022. This title is on Hulu and Disney in the USA.
Have You Tried Installing the Latest Update?
So while Tomlin takes the heady cue of facing the reality that “love will kill us all” and runs with it the rest of the tale tries to level up with some plot twists. The swift shift is pretty good as far as being unpredictable goes. But I had my suspicions. Moreover, the Mother/Android movie is so darn depressing, that I found the final scenes almost too much. The movie seems to want to highlight sacrifice.
At almost every pivotal point, there is some kind of message that points out just how much someone can give up. If given the opportunity, the option to hand over every last drop of your own humanity can be a suitable choice. And the worst part is, that you can still end up alone.
Watch To Your Last Death for an annimated horror movie about robots.
Looking for another movie where artificial intelligence goes rogue? Watch Life Like or Subservience next.
For another review of Mother/Android, read from the MarkReview’sMovies.com website. They didn’t like this title either.
Mother/Android is rated
3 “Droids got game” out of 5
Mother/Andriod Review
Director: Mattson Tomlin
Date Created: 2021-12-17 21:02
3
Pros
- Great special effects
Cons
- Depressing and generic
- Needs more androids