My quick rating - 5.1/10. My first thought was "Here we go again" as this flick taps into the classic “help gone rogue” theme, where a struggling father (who’s somehow oblivious to glaring red flags) brings home a lifelike A.I., Alice (Megan Fox), who is a little too eager to integrate herself into the family. Predictably, Alice quickly escalates her role from helper to household nightmare as she sets her sights on becoming the center of this fragile family’s world—by any means necessary. Megan Fox's portrayal of Alice is deadpan and eerily robotic, while unintentionally ironic given past criticisms of her “robotic” style, fits her character here with an almost darkly comic precision. There's not much new here; Fox’s Alice goes through the motions we’d expect from a self-aware A.I. with sinister ambitions, hitting each trope right on schedule. The real surprise performance comes from Madeline Zima as Maggie, the sick wife dealing with the unsettling realization that her replacement might just be angling to replace her in every way. Zima gives Maggie a real emotional core that stands out, especially in the face of such a clichéd storyline. Visually, the flick is polished up nicely, capturing a sleek sci-fi vibe that makes the A.I. horror elements easy to digest but ultimately predictable. It’s fine as a #Shocktober watch, but it lacks the spark needed to set it apart from the crowded genre. And of course, the movie leaves the door ajar for a sequel, hinting that Alice’s “subservience” might extend well beyond one family’s unfortunate experience. At the end of the day, this is 105 minutes of straightforward sci-fi horror that does little to innovate but succeeds as a slightly above-average filler for a Halloween marathon.
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