Wifelike review: A sleazy sci-fi story leans into sex and exploitation

Stories about robots and clones don’t necessarily need elaborate special effects to create a convincing illusion, making them ideal low-budget sci-fi. Take, for example, the spotty new streaming movie Meredith (Elena Campoulis). like a wifeShe is a clone-robot hybrid of sorts, an artificial human made by a well-known company that provides a “mate” for grieving men who have lost their spouses (and seemingly only men). Customizable and programmable robots are infused with aspects of real people, but it’s not immediately clear how much of a woman’s personality can be transplanted into an artificial body.

Campoulis plays the “real” Meredith for a while throughout the film. For the most part, however, she lives in a Robo Companion version with seemingly zero computer enhancements to assist her performance. To look creepy, it requires a strangely strict posture and body language, reinforced with makeup and overly neat outfits.

Meredith and other friends like a wife, is accurate. Once the movie makes the world around them just as believable.The notion of a companion quickly becomes confusing, starting with the bogus advertisement at the beginning of the movie. They are somehow marketed as both fantastically detailed sex dolls and a treat to crush grief. Companion doesn’t seem to have enough sense to inspire the ferocious liberation movements seen in the film.

And this time the protesters don’t seem to have enough numbers to justify a fleet of “agents” like William (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). As a reward for hard work, the Wifelike company replaces her William’s dead wife with a Meredith bot. But she’s presented more as a perk of employment than a cure for grief.

In better movies, perversion is the point. Maybe this has it too. It’s hard to tell when William’s insensitive case is the only consistent window into the practice of giving out companions for audiences. like a wife William and Meredith’s sex scene is more softcore silliness than genuine provocation, but Meredith does have some funny moments. Messages from her central processing system were rejected.

Image: Paramount Home Entertainment

That moment stands in for the entire film, and is most interesting when you leave Meredith to your device. , begin to understand their own point of view. Meredith also begins speaking in the third person, gradually gaining access to a sufficient sense of self to make first-person remarks.

There’s a funny moment when Meredith has to deal with William’s exemption to cook health-threatening bacon, but sometimes Meredith needs to be taught a term that the computer could possibly search seamlessly. What’s the usefulness of its slow learning curve for widowers and hypersexual losers? Like the 2004 remake wives of stepfordthe film itself can appear uncertain as to the exact how and why of the mate-making process.

As Meredith’s consciousness expands, she is drawn into the conflict between William’s company and anti-companion forces, uncovering buried secrets, hidden memories, and more. This tension would be tighter if I wasn’t playing William as. like a wife It goes on with the subdued feeling that writer-director James Byrd is trying to peel back the layers of male politeness to reveal the rights and controls underneath. However, these qualities are just as visible in the skimpy lingerie that all of the companions seem to have on hand as accessories.

Image: Paramount Home Entertainment

Rather than develop an uneasy and unbalanced relationship between these two specific characters, like a wife Unearth the barely hidden subtext and proudly lay it out as text. Men conquer women, and if their attempts to do so are thwarted, they invent new women to conquer more. There are moments that seem made up, but Bird avoids it by not including a major character who is truly grieving.

Byrd comes up with a lot of details that would inspire either a crazier B-movie or a more introspective sci-fi work: a “dreamscape” that acts as a sort of virtual reality. What ultimately drives William and his colleague Jack (Dron Bell) is low-rent cop movie-level material. like a wife Past the turn-around point and into the uncanny valley of its own. Smart and edgy, his supposed sci-fi movie resemblance looks like a lecture on male superiority and deceit.

like a wife Limited theatrical release on August 12th, available for streaming Amazon, buduand other digital rental and purchase platforms.