Directed by Gavin Rothery. Starring Theo James, Stacey Martin, Toby Jones, Rhona Mitra and Peter Ferdinando. In cinemas. Running time: 109 mins.
Bucking a trend, Universal has decided to move this small scale sci-fi up the release schedule, pushing it ahead of all their other releases heading in the other direction.
It's a smart move because it's the kind of engaging but unremarkable film that will probably be overlooked in a busy week, trampled over in the stampede to get films back into cinema if and when normality returns.
George (James) is working away on a secret project in an isolated research facility in Japan. Other than a couple of robots, the only companionship he has is phone calls with his dead wife (Martin), who's been uploaded to a virtual storage facility. With corporate bosses breathing down his neck, can he complete his task to build a new host for her before he is closed down?
Prior to this writer/director Rothery has worked extensively in special effects and art design, most notably on Moon. His first full-length feature mixes that with the Bjork video where she's a robot. It deals with familiar topics and there's nothing in the designs that you haven't seen before, but within its limited ambitions, it delivers. 3/5 stars
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