PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Technology has been evolving for years. The idea of improving computers has always been for the greater good, from the smallest thing to the biggest, to make our lives easier. Sometimes, however, it can make life difficult when it consumes our lives. I’ll be the first to admit that when some new gadget comes out, I wonder why would I—or anyone—would need it. It’s a natural reaction for many of us. But after a while, I came around and wind up enjoying the new tech.
The movie I do want to talk about today is Implanted, directed by Fabien Dufils (1 Buck 2017) and co-written by himself and David Bourgie (The Law of Dishonor 2016).
The plot of the film:
A struggling young woman is implanted with an experimental AI chip. She must fight to survive when it takes control.
With a film like this that has been set in the future, one might expect the overuse of a green screen, CGI, or too much effort being made to make things look futuristic. Implanted doesn’t do those things, and this helped me enjoy the movie. There isn’t a big bunch of unneeded stuff used to further the plot. The plot device and story grabbed my attention as if I was invested in a new app or technology. The film does take a huge step in diving right into the suspense. Most movies might build up the friendship and some back story, whereas Implanted cuts right to the chase within ten minutes, which is a good thing because it’s an AI robot controlling our character, so they don’t have any love or compassion. They’re just a soulless device that has a purpose.
When reading up on the movie, I was under the impression that this was going to be another version of a person getting enhanced with AI intelligence and becoming smarter, faster, stronger, and knows kung-fu. This isn’t the case. Implanted takes on the role of a sci-fi thriller filled with emotion as we watch the lead character dealing with the mental and physical anguish of her new life. The AI controls her by way of threats if certain tasks aren’t resolved. You’ll see what the tasks are and why it wants them done later on.
Implanted progresses into an interesting cat and mouse game involving another patient with the AI system controlling them. At times, I felt bad for the characters wondering about their lives or why they would sign up for the procedure. We do get answers later in the film that makes sense but also leaves a few questions. These questions aren’t something that changes the movie in any way or makes it less enjoyable.
Overall, the movie does have some interesting scenes with Michele Girolami (Over/Under 2021) to where she does a great job taking command of the scene. When she’s interacting with others, she’s able to emote so well driving that performance further all the way to the end. The director was able to give us an amazing sci-fi thriller that has been seen time and time again and add a human side to the world of artificial intelligence. Be sure to check it out on Digital Platforms now!
