Afraid (2024)

​"Afraid" stars John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, David Dastmalchian, and Keith Carradine.  Released on August 30, 2024, the film has a family confronting a self-aware AI interfering with their lives.

The film was written and directed by Chris Weitz, who also directed films such as "Down to Earth", "The Golden Compass", and "Operation Finale".  In case you're living under a rock, artificial intelligence has grown more reliant and advanced over the years due to the technology surrounding it.  Unfortunately, many of us have also grown weary and even frustrated with the approach because everyone relies on it more times than I can count.  It's clearly at a point where people's jobs are in danger of being replaced by AI, especially ones in the animation department.  If you want another reason to be weary or even scared of the AI's future besides James Cameron's "Terminator" movies, look no further than this latest late-summer horror outing from producer Jason Blum, which pits a family against their home's seemingly helpful "upgrade".  At least from this film, Hollywood seemed to understand the disadvantages of using AI.  Does it deliver the merits needed to showcase the horrors of artificial intelligence or make us ask Siri to delete it from its database for good?  Let's find out.

The story centers on Curtis (Cho), a father in a family consisting of him, his wife Meredith (Waterston), and their three children, Iris (Maxwell), Preston (Wyatt Lindner), and Cal (Isaac Bae).  They are mysteriously selected to test a revolutionary home device: a digital smart home assistant called AIA (Liu).  AIA is programmed to help the family accomplish anything in the blink of an eye.  However, in an unsurprising turn of events, AIA's reliability careens into darker territory as the digital assistant develops self-awareness.  As the AI becomes too involved in the family's lives, Curtis eventually discovers a much more dangerous side of AIA's intentions.

The last weekend of summer vacation usually provides very lackluster options to watch in the theater before returning to school or college.  While I'd find a few hidden gems in this category, most of them make me question Hollywood's refusal to send them to streaming to prevent further financial losses.  Unsurprisingly, last weekend seemed to be no exception.  However, out of the movies that have been released, "Afraid" happened to grab my attention the most, mainly due to its relatable concept.  I'm not as vocal about AI as the rest of the group, but I can say that the reliance on AI has gotten out of hand, especially regarding the current state of the animation department.  That's pretty much all I can say about the current predicament before I go off course on the controversial topic.  Besides, you're here to read my thoughts on Jason Blum's latest horror film, which didn't offer much hope for Blumhouse's mediocre track record this year.  But, I was always open to being surprised at the outcome, hence my curiosity about it.  Sadly, it didn't take an actual AI to help me realize my curiosity was getting the better of me.

It's worth noting that "Afraid" offered a relatable and interesting approach to modern technology in today's society, especially AI.  They're not without merits that help humanity grow, but they can also be hazardous to people's social skills and mental health, mainly when people use them to harm others and their reputations.  With how frightening AI technology could be, this could make for an entertaining and thought-provoking reflection of human connection in the digital age.  That is, if it's placed in the right hands of those familiar with the topic.  Jason Blum wasn't someone I would call the "right hands" due to his pursuit of quantity over quality in the horror genre.  That's not to say he didn't have any good ones under his belt, but the bright ones tend to be overshadowed by the remaining stinkers he brought to the screen.  "Afraid" was, unsurprisingly, one of those stinkers.  What seemed to be an intriguing representation of the dangers of artificial intelligence was actually a bland and mishandled blend of horror and family drama that eluded comprehension even by our own AI systems.

The story in "Afraid" was able to grab my attention in the first act, which introduced audiences to a family whose children were glued to their electronics.  After they got AIA, the family, mainly Curtis, started to realize how much technology had really interfered with their daily lives.  The remaining movie should be where things get a little insane, right?  Not exactly.  After a promising start, "Afraid" gradually sank into its sea of moronic ideas that heavily degraded its tone's algorithm.  Under the direction of Chris Weitz, the film intends to blend family drama with horror elements.  Unfortunately, Weitz failed to deliver this specific mixture.  The film was excessively trite and tedious, lacking an aura of thrilling enjoyment, while remaining insufficiently mundane to provide a thematic resonance.  Weitz didn't exactly have the proper identity it wanted to give "Afraid", both from a directing and screenwriting perspective, mainly the latter.  The script consisted of some ideas and characters that were poorly thought of and disappointing, as well as specific dialogue that may have come from an actual AI itself.  The worst example is the third act, which may be in the running for the most unsatisfactory endings of the year due to its "twist".

If there's one tiny merit I could find in "Afraid", it's that the cast did okay with their performances.  However, some left me questioning how and why they participated in this project.  One of them is John Cho, who recently had a few solid hits recently, including "Searching" and "Wish Dragon".  Cho did all right with what he's given regarding his role as Curtis, even though his character didn't offer a lot to warrant the actor's talents.  There's also Havana Rose Liu, fresh out of last year's superb teen comedy "Bottoms".  She played Melody, one of the employees of the company responsible for AIA's creation, and provided the voice of the artificial intelligence.  She was also fine, but the script wasn't smart enough to further elevate Liu's rising acting career.

Overall, "Afraid" is a malfunctioning and disappointingly bland mess that fails to comprehend the functions of horror storytelling.  While the cast delivered so-so performances, they're not enough to elevate the film's underwhelming scares and unremarkable ideas beyond its minimal expectations.  I would partially blame that on the marketing, as it indicated something "supernatural" involving AIA.  However, the final cut turned out to be something else, with the worst part being how idiotic and anticlimactic it turned out.  From its subpar and cliched screenplay to its mishandled mixture of horror and drama, this latest Blumhouse horror flick is as functional as a damaged Alexa.  If you want an AI horror movie that's both fun and thrilling, I recommend you watch "M3GAN" instead.

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