(11'697 votes)A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program's troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.
What do we think when we think of AI? Usually, we think of the probable dangers to be posed by it, whether or not it would be taking over the human race, or if the technology will eat up the jobs meant for human beings making them somewhat useless. But what about the ethics relating to the application of the groundbreaking technology? Every research and its end result should definitely have a set of principles. But while debating about AI, we tend to forget about those ethics and principles; rather, we just stick to just discussing our own wins and losses. The Artifice Girl (2023. Theatres), an indie sci-fi drama, talks about the issues that we usually don’t discuss.
The debut director-writer, Franklin Ritch, takes the viewers on a timely, relevant, humane tale of emotions and humanity of AI in this sci-fi/drama. The film narrates the story of Gareth (Franklin Ritch), a CGI artist in Hollywood, and his invention, Cherry (Tatum Matthews), a code based artificial girl. They together, along with two other government agents, set out on catching pedophiles across borders. We see the three human beings in the film through several stages of their lives, and a never ageing Cherry, changing her form, and the developments of both the humans and the AI.
Right from the very beginning, the film talks heavy by addressing the ever-growing debate of the dangers posed by AI to the film industry as well as other art forms where we see Gareth, the CGI guy, informing us about how he had recreated a long-dead Alec Guinness using 3D modelling for a latest Star Wars entry. We understand, he probably has used a similar, but an even superior technology invented by himself (as he claims) to create Cherry, a breakthrough technology in curbing pedophiles.
The Artifice Girl dives deep into human emotions, childhood trauma, child abuse and empathy. A sci-fi drama without a single action set piece is definitely something novel to treat your senses with. Alongside its main theme, the film also explores the creator-creation relationship in depth. Gareth’s indifference towards the wants and wishes of Cherry and the subsequent developments concerning Cherry that follows afterwards make it a spectacular, heart touching and deeply meditative watch.
The screenplay of the film, divided into a novel-like three parts or chapters, deals with three different timelines. First, the period where the government agents convince Gareth to be onboard with them on their mission; second, the administrative related aftermaths of the three human beings as well as Cherry; and third, the ultimate fate of the non-human 11-year-old girl. Such a unique way of storytelling clearly boasts of the film’s independent production. After the fast emergence of A24, we probably are in for another exciting story unfolding the rise of XYZ Films, another indie production house that had offered us films like Blackberry earlier this year. This is definitely a great sign for cinema in general. With the music of the film, along with the songs and the BGM, the makers have done a terrific job which lets you breath some fresh air deviating from the usual sci-fis.
Apart from everything, The Artifice Girl is most necessarily a story of freedom, free will, empathy and humanness. With this debut by Ritch, we can most certainly hope for the emergence of another filmmaker who narrates the most humane stories in the most relevant ways possible.
