Director: Grant Sputore
Writer: Michael Lloyd Green (Screenplay) Grant Sputore (Story)
Starring: Luke Hawker, Rose Byrne, Tahlia Sturzaker, Clara Rugaard, Hilary Swank
Plot: A teenage girl is raised underground by a kindly robot “Mother” — designed to repopulate the earth following the extinction of mankind. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Tagline – She’ll keep you safe
Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Starts Well, Finishes Weakly
Story: I Am Mother starts when a baby is bought to life raised by a robotic mother, known only as Mother, we see the girl known only as daughter raised to a teenager (Rugaard) where she starts to become more interested in what could be outside the bunker she is being raised in, the questions always get shot down by Mother and when a mysterious Woman (Swank) arrives the relationship between Mother and Daughter becomes tense.
After the woman is let in, she starts filling in daughter to what is outside the bunker and the mystery about the woman only continues to increase as Mother does what is expected, protect her young. Will Daughter risk her life to learn more or accept her role in the bunker.
Thoughts on I Am Mother
Characters – Daughter has been raised in a bunker by Mother, she has been taught the world outside was destroyed, with the training taught by the robot mother, would bring more humans to her life. Hitting the teenage years, Daughter continues to want to know what is outside the world she is living in and he willingness to help a stranger only makes her decisions more confusing. Mother is the robotic figure that has raised Daughter, she is learning on the job, with the idea being once prepared more will be raised, we see how everything she is preparing is for protection for the greatest good. Woman is the stranger who wants to get into the bunker, she shows that there is a bigger world outside and that has more humans in, her story only makes Daughter’s life more confusing all around.
Performances – Clara Rugaard is the star of the show here, the teenage daughter character who must deal with the confliction thrown her way and handles everything in a believable way through the film. Hilary Swank does bring the star power to the film, she does everything right without being on the level of the top sci-fi horror stars. Having such a small cast we don’t really see anybody else bring anything to the film.
Story – The story here follows a teenage girl that has been raised in a bunker where she believes the world outside has been destroyed, all this changes, when a stranger arrives, giving her a decision to make about what she wants to believe anymore. This is a story that does start in a very interesting manor, by making us see the raising of daughter with the desire to know more about the outside world, this is routine and watching how the stranger and mother are both trying to convince her what is real, we see her needing to bounce between both sides. Once we go to the outside, this is where things start to fall apart for us and it just seems to fizzle out without answers any of the real questions posed.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror in the film comes from learning the truth and just what that might mean for Daughter in her world. The sci-fi side of the film is the highlight because it puts us in the middle of a world that has seen destruction and this puts us in the location that is meant to be safe.
Settings – The film is set in one location for the most part, the bunker, this does show us just what situation the world is left in, with our character not having anywhere to go. Once we leave the bunker, we do see everything go downhill with the generic looking CGI world.
Special Effects – The effects are mixed too, with the bunker location and Mother figure looking brilliant, but outside you can see the green screen effects in play.
Scene of the Movie – Searching for the truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting sci-fi film that had so much interesting material going in, only for it to fall flat with the ending.
Overall: Falls flat by the end.
