Abigail is thrilled when her estranged father reappears, gifting her a cutting-edge AI device named Ivan. However, she soon realises that he has an ulterior motive. And the device is not quite what it seems…
Grimmfest says: Grimmfest regulars may well recall Damien Fannon’s remarkable short films, CRY BABY and THE KEEPER; studies in domestic disruption and escalating disquiet, notable for their uncomfortable sense of intimacy and subtle invasion. So it is not altogether surprising that Fannon should be drawn to the subject of domestic AI devices gone rogue. The “Haunted Alexa” scenario has become a familiar one in recent years; perfect for exploring contemporary fears about the increasing intrusion of voyeuristic surveillance technology into all of our lives. but Fannon’s take on the subject is typically idiosyncratic and unique. Expanded and radically reimagined from an earlier short of the same name, this again showcases Fannon’s flair for rendering a familiar home environment into something alien and coldly threatening via the skilful use of space and shadow and ambient sound, the accumulation of anomalous details, the sudden jarring moments of oddness in camera movement. And by the unpredictable shifts in the characterisation and performance. But this is coupled with a wider, wilder, weirder backstory of mysterious research institutes engaged in ethics-violating experiments, which recalls the aesthetic and storytelling sensibilities exhibited in the earlier films of David Cronenberg, wherein he would draw on pulpy B movie horror and sci-fi tropes to explore the issues of bodily mutation and transformation, and Ballardian alienation and psychological evolution that interest him. The effect here is similarly jarring, pulling the film in two directions at once; part paranoid domestic drama, part bad science fever dream; delirious and disorientating, and never ever predictable. And it works; both as an homage to and mischievous evocation of a classic era of challenging Canadian horror, and as an auspicious debut feature from one of the genre’s most exciting and original – and, yes, challenging – new voices.