All dystopian sci-fi films don’t need to be super expensive or expansive to convey the dreary message of the end of humanity. I AM MOTHER, streaming on Netflix, is an excellent example of that. This Netflix sci-fi exploits the human extinction theme with a twist where an alien robot mothers a human baby. For a right half of the film, you don’t suspect much being amiss and see it as an alien species trying to give humanity a second chance in a controlled environment, but things take a complicated turn when a survivor enters the bunker. The baby, now a teenager, faces a difficult choice between her kind and the kind she grew up with. There are a lot of perspectives presented to the audience through the daughter, and just like her, the audience has to decide what’s right, trusting their conscience.
There’s a psychological paradox in this Netflix film, which, if you are okay with a slower pace of events, might even satisfy the poet you think you are when you read Rupi Kaur on Instagram. There’s a James Cameron like narrative flow in a Ridley Scott like scenario. Netflix’s I AM MOTHER marries them both in an exciting fashion. But sci-fi dramas are destined to be flawed in some way or another.
There are many questions that this Netflix film raises and if you are a movie enthusiast, you may even draw parallels between the concept of family in the movie and that in real life. However, one question the film keeps coming back to is that of trust. What is exciting about the script is that it doesn’t necessarily try and answer that question and leaves it to you. Watch the movie and see if you find and respond.
I AM MOTHER might be slow paced in the sci-fi department, but it is also an engaging drama which prevents the film from coming across as incomplete or disappointing. When has parenthood ever been perfect?
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