“I Am Mother” Movie Review

    Netflix is filled with a slew of interesting original content.  For the most part however, Netflix has a better track record with it’s original shows than it does with it’s films.  As far as their original films go, I feel it’s a little like playing Russian roulette.  Watching a Netflix original movie ‘probably’ won’t kill you, but why put yourself through it?  Yet here I am again, and I watched yet another Netflix movie.  Am I a glutton for punishment?  Only my therapist knows for sure.

    “I Am Mother” tells the story of a young woman known only as daughter and her ‘mother’, a robot who cares for her.  The young girl grows up in a facility closed off from the outside world.  Mother told her daughter it was because the outside world was uninhabitable and she needed to be protected.  Daughter begins to search for answers however when a mysterious woman shows up outside asking for help.  Who, if anyone, can daughter truly trust?

    So I happened upon “I Am Mother” because it was suggested to me by Netflix and it looked like it might be interesting (although I thought the same thing about “The Titan”).  While the film had a lot going for it and was certainly better than “The Titan”, the film’s flaws kept it from being memorable beyond the first watch.

    Now the film actually looks stunning.  As far as the cinematography and special effects go, it is actually a more visually appealing film than a lot of movies released in theaters.  This attention to detail and the overall production design made what was essentially a small picture feel far bigger than it was.  The film was also blessed with an excellent performance from newcomer Clara Rugaard.  You know she is destined for greatness when she can outshine Hilary Swank in the scenes they share together.  Rose Byrne also provides a great vocal performance as Mother.  Byrne’s comforting voice gives the robot Mother a great deal of humanity.

    Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with the film was what plagues a lot of science fiction movies, it tried too hard to be a heady sci-fi film without actually having any fun.  A gloomy and intelligent science fiction film ‘can’ work but it has to have a killer ending.  While the ending revealed a few potential surprises, all the big twists felt fairly predictable.  I would have loved if the writers played with the concept of what ‘actually’ makes someone human more.

    Another slight problem I had with the film was it’s pacing.  I actually liked it’s relatively simplistic story and approach and didn’t mind the slow build.  What I didn’t like was the slow build to a sort of crammed finale and the runtime that could have been trimmed a bit.

    “I Am Mother” ended up being an average film that was beautifully shot.  While this film will never be a masterpiece, it wasn’t poorly written either.  It just needed a little something more in my opinion.  If you like science fiction films, this certainly isn’t the worst out there by any means and would be worth a watch for it’s visual flair alone.

Grade: B-