Foe (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – Hen and Junior farm a secluded piece of land that has been in Junior’s family for generations, but their quiet life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger shows up at their door with a startling proposal.

My Take – The integration of Artificial intelligence into our lives is quite a hot topic nowadays for filmmakers, but unlike recent alarmist Hollywood blockbusters like The Creator or Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, this latest from director Garth Davis (Lion, Mary Magdalene) uses its setting as a mere window dressing to get into something deeper and more universal.

Set in the future, yet addressing something that is far more intimate and relatable even today. Based on Iain Reid‘s 2018 novel of the same name, who also co-wrote the film with director Davis, this psychological sci-fi thriller tackles both the climate crisis and the trials and tribulations of a human relationship played out by two of the most sought after young actors of the generation, however, while it is full of incredibly interesting ideas and pulls out great performances, it is also trying to be too many things at once and in so doing prevents itself from totally fulfilling any of its promise.

Although I wouldn’t call it out-and-out bad as most critics are calling it, it is in fact rather very good in places, it’s not quite as brilliant as it wishes to be.

The film’s saving grace, the primary element which brings it out of the trenches, is its ending, which along with explaining the meandering elements, ties everything together with a twist. A twist which itself isn’t entirely unpredictable, but handled quite effectively. Personally, I believe a film’s ending can absolutely make or break an entire experience one has of a film, and in this case, it nearly makes it.

Set in the year 2065 where climate change is wreaking havoc on the environment, a new government program aims to test whether humans can survive in space as well as whether AI lookalikes could eventually replace humans who are confined to it.

The story follows Junior (Paul Mescal) and Henrietta aka Hen (Saoirse Ronan), who live in a remote farmhouse and do their best to get by. Hen works as a diner waitress and tends to their lifeless homestead, sparing enough recycled water to feed one tree, while Junior works at a meat processing plant in a nearby town.

Their quiet life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger named Terrance (Aaron Pierre) shows up at their door with a startling proposal to send Junior into space and to replace him with an AI lookalike that is indistinguishable from him to keep Hen company while he is away. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime proposal, one that will give meaning to Junior’s life and a potential future for them both, but also forces the couple to confront their fears and insecurities.

Here, director Garth Davis aims to strikes a delicate balance between establishing a believable marriage while also laying the foundation for a story that will eventually reveal another hidden layer, one that will question everything you’ve just seen. The film has strong sci-fi elements, it is more focused on the themes of identity and relationships, which are universal and relatable. The theme and tone of the film are dark and thought-provoking, with a sense of unease and tension that builds up gradually.

However, while the story starts strong, it quickly meanders aimlessly and uninterestingly in the second act. Though most films nowadays are short on character development, but here the screenplay tends to overdo it. We get too much of Hen and Junior’s domestic life, as the cracks in their relationship slowly reveal themselves.

They were childhood sweethearts who married early. Now, in their 30s, they are looking back on the romance of those days, which has gradually evaporated. He doesn’t like her playing the piano, for instance, and she doesn’t like his objections.

The script is eerie and tense, and the actors work hard to inject a semblance of life, but Hen and Junior’s relationship is just not that interesting. In comparison, the world-building is solid, and the sweeping shots of the desolate and barren Mid-West are stunning which alongside the film’s unsettling and moody score prove to be two of the film’s strongest elements.

And whilst the script isn’t entirely successful when it comes to the minutiae of its scenes, the broader strokes that it tries to convey are largely more compelling. It asks timely and relevant questions about climate change and the state of humanity once our planet becomes inhospitable, and stirs the increasingly more pressing debate of the introduction of AI into our lives.

The film’s saving grace, the primary element which brings it out of the mundane, is its ending. Director David plays through said twist by doubling down on the story’s pulpier bits, rendering the payoffs to some of the film’s more hackneyed ideas. But then it just keeps going, not knowing when to end once it folds in on itself, forcing its own implosion by introducing last-minute themes and ideas that feel like they’re from a different story entirely.

Thankfully, it helps that he has a talented cast and crew that help bring this skewed sci-fi tale to life, as Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Aaron Pierre all put on excellent performances. Ronan delivers a nuanced portrayal of a woman struggling with her identity and Mescal bringing depth to his character’s emotional turmoil. Pierre‘s performance is also noteworthy, although his character’s motivations and backstory are not fully explored. On the whole, ‘Foe’ is a passable sci-fi drama which possessed significant room for improvement.