From the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey to the more recent horror hit M3GAN, genre entertainment has always found a way to make artificial intelligence feel dangerous. And as the latest movie to capitalize on AI anxiety, Spencer Brown‘s T.I.M. goes down a familiar path. Barbarian star Georgina Campbell eventually falls victim to something originally designed to make her character’s life easier. Yet unlike past stories where the threatening technology is out to overthrow its human makers, this movie’s namesake does the unexpected: it falls madly in love.
The plot of T.I.M. sounds more like a rehashed “Treehouse of Horror” story from The Simpsons than a horror movie, but Brown and co-writer Sarah Govett make their outlandish pitch work. Rather than an automated house going awry, though, the script delivers a humanoid AI robot who goes completely off script.
The two main characters in this increasingly disturbed tech thriller are looking for a fresh start after the husband (Mark Rowley) cheats and loses his wife’s trust. Widening the emotional gap between this strained couple is the constant presence of T.I.M. (short for “Technologically Integrated Manservant”), a walking and talking smart device whose physical appearance can be best described as “what if the kids from Village of the Damned grew up and never changed their style?” Eamon Farren has a fantastic turn as the creepy ‘bot in question. T.I.M.’s plastic veneer is indeed assisted by makeup, yet cosmetic effects alone cannot engender such convincing gestures and movements.
Audiences won’t need to consult an instruction manual to figure out how T.I.M. will play out. Subtlety is needless in a movie as blatant as this one. The gender roles are different than usual — the woman as the credulous and logic-driven scientist, and the man as the more aware partner whose mounting paranoia is actually valid — however, the beats of the story are nothing new. The robot factor, of course, helps keep this feeling more fresh than stale. The domestic drama pours in as the imperiled couple squabbles over not only the intrusive smart servant, but the unresolved trust issues stemming from the husband’s past dalliance. To help underscore that throughline of foolish mistrust are instances of deepfake. No doubt this is a play on what is now a common occurrence in the real world.
When T.I.M. starts to get lost in its own melodrama, the story eventually loosens up again and embraces its humorous side. The director can’t shake his roots in comedy, and for the betterment of this movie, those moments of sinister slapstick are as crafty as they are welcome. They give T.I.M. a tad more flavor than initially anticipated. The last act is especially a game-changer as the script hands in one cheap thrill after another.
The clean and commercial gloss along with the straight performances give T.I.M. the deceptive appearance of a serious thriller, but that climbing sense of absurdity makes it come off as more of a dressed-up “B” movie. Albeit an amusing one. The funnier parts aren’t too obvious or even indulgent enough to qualify this as a campy genre comedy, and certainly the offenses of the lovesick ‘droid are too ridiculous to ever be considered scary. T.I.M. is ultimately working from the outline of past (and better) technophobia tales. Even so, the movie still possesses a couple of notable features that will help it stand out as AI horror only continues to flourish.
Brainstorm Media will release T.I.M. in select U.S. theaters and on VOD starting on January 12, 2024.
Image courtesy of Brainstorm Media.