I Am Mother is the new sci-fi Netflix film, which is the directorial debut of Australian director Grant Sputore. It follows a young girl (Clara Rugaard) who is raised in some sort of bunker by a robot named Mother (voiced by Rose Byrne), who tells her that the world outside has been fatally contaminated and only refers to her as Daughter. However, their sheltered existence is shattered when a survivor (Hilary Swank) appears...Right off the bat, the first thing you'll notice is how great the production design is. Much of the film is spent in the bunker, and it looks fantastic, a minor miracle given what I can only assume was a small, Netflix movie budget. The long corridors are eerie and sterile and the mood is consistently claustrophobic. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that you do get to see some of the world outside the bunker, and what is there is creepy, unique and strangely beautiful. I'll speak no more of it since the outside world does form part of a series of reveals.
Another technical achievement is the design of Mother. A mixture of practical effects and CGI, it looks real the entire way through, the illusion helped by small details such as the lights on the side of its head and stickers that Daughter has put on it in the past. The only nitpick that I have with the design is that it looks a little too immobile. This is not a problem in itself but whenever Mother runs down a corridor it breaks my suspension of disbelief because I find it hard to believe that a robot designed like Mother is would be that agile. It doesn't help that the running effect isn't fantastic on it's own.
I also enjoyed the story and how twisty it was. It's definitely a movie that pulls the rug out from under you multiple times and leads you to question the motivations of the two supporting characters. I also think that the film has some considerable subtext and I read it as a metaphor for sheltering your children from the horrifying reality of the outside world and whether that is ethical. I can't really dig much more into it without getting into spoilers; this movie is a little difficult to write about in a spoiler-free review. I don't think I care quite enough to do a spoiler review but I wish I knew someone else who had seen it so as to discuss the film's themes and twists with them.
As great as the film is conceptually and technically, it does have some problems in the execution. `For one, I wasn't the biggest fan of the acting in this movie. Clara Rugaard was meh, while Swank was overacting a bit, in my opinion. The exception to this rule was Byrne, whose warm voice makes her perfect for the role of a seemingly friendly robot A.I. There is often menace hidden in her amiable tones that elevates Mother above the average movie robot. I also found the pacing of the film to be a bit off. This may be partly my interest levels but I felt the film really hit lulls at the start and end of the second act that considerably slowed it down.
Overall, though, I Am Mother is a notch above most Netflix original films, with great production value, a good script and a standout performance from Rose Byrne. However, it is held back from being truly great by some bad acting and pacing.
Score: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Listening to 'Saturday Night's Alright' as I write this. Rocketman is a musical biopic that follows Elton John (Taron Egerton) as he navigates his rise to fame, his drug and alcohol addiction, his relationship with manager John Reid (Richard Madden), as well as the other people in his life, including his songwriter (Jamie Bell) and mother (Bryce Dallas Howard). Directed by Dexter Fletcher, it has positioned itself as the edgier alternative to last year's Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which Fletcher finished off after original director Bryan Singer was fired for being a very creepy man. It has made history as the first major Hollywood film to feature a sex scene between two men. Not only is it changing the face of film, it's also doing seriously original things with the genre in which it takes place. While the music biopic genre has long since become a menagerie of cliched storytelling, this film shakes things up by introducing a musical element and a non-linear narrative. And I was on board the whole way through.There's almost nothing wrong with this movie. Egerton is electric as John. This is less of an impression than a performance, and is made even more impressive by how Egerton sang all of his own songs, as opposed to Bohemian Rhapsody, where Rami-Malek-as-Freddie-Mercury's vocals were created using a mixture of Malek, an impersonator, and the man himself. Egerton spent a long time living with John and the result of this is a passionate and acurate performance. Though he regularly outshines the other actors, Egerton's is not the only good performance on show. Look no further than Bell as songwriter Bernard Taupin, who embues a chracter who ultimately doesn't have a lot to do with a natural charisma. The chemistry between him and Egerton is the beating heart of the film. Richard Madden as John Reid also functions better as an antagonist than, say, Allen Leacher's Paul Prenter in Bohemian Rhapsody. He is surprisingly menacing, especially coming off Rhapsody where Reid was portrayed as a sympathetic character. I guess it just goes to show how different perspectives can change your perception of a person. These two films would make an interesting double feature. Also impressive is the nearly unrecognisable Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton's mother.
Aside from all the performances, the storytelling in this film is exceptional. This isn't a traditional A-to-B biopic; we start with the adult John in therapy and then flash back to his childhood, flashing back occasionally to add extra emotional heft as John remembers the moments that we've just seen. It's also actually a musical - it doesn't just pause to recreate a concert, the film works classic John songs into the story to amplify it's themes and characters (such as when Elton's mother is introduced to 'The Bitch is Back', and a showstopping, highlight performance of 'Rocket Man' follows John's overcoming of a key obstacle). The film uses this format (and Elton's substance abuse) to it's advantage. Rather than attempting to cover everything in minute detail, it plays fast and loose with the facts; don't be surprised to see fantastical elements in the story. This results in a completely unique story. But the script's genius doesn't stop there; the dialogue is snappy and occasionally heartbreaking, and the understated (and at times obvious) use of metaphors adds an extra dimension to what could have easily been yet another style-over-substance musical. Plus, it's elevated by forming it's entire story around a theme; a theme about the longing for unconditional love, which is what many of Elton's songs are about.
It's surprisingly good-looking. The cinematography is often interesting and the direction of the musical scenes is kinetic without being hard-to-follow. There is a beautiful scene in a pool that is both an achievement in visual effects and cinematography. There are some colour grading choices that I really enjoyed, such as when the bright red of adult Elton's demon costume contrasts with the dull colours of his childhood.
If you can't already tell, I loved Rocketman. It's currently my favourite film of the year and I recommend it to everyone. The beats of the story are maybe a little predictable but the journey to get there is anything but. It's got fantastic performances, great music (obviously) and some pretty good cinematography and narrative structure. Stop rewatching Avengers: Endgame and watch this instead!
Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
