Mother/Android Parent Guide

Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her boyfriend, Sam (Algee Smith) are in a bit of a crisis: Georgia is pregnant. And while the couple try to decide how to deal with this unwanted surprise, the nation’s entire population of android workers override their programming and erupt into violent revolt against their former owners. Pregnant and on the run, Georgia and Sam are trying to make it to Boston, where rumor claims that parents with newborns can get passage to safer countries. But Boston is essentially surrounded by androids, and Georgia’s due date is only getting closer…

Being a man, I can’t exactly speak from experience, but from where I sit, being pregnant seems nightmarish enough without the end of humankind bearing down on you. The rest of the story just adds insult to injury. And there’s plenty of injury to be had because this movie is a bit of a mess. The premise is interesting, but the film lacks some basic structural elements which it desperately needs.

Chloë Grace Moretz is, as usual, giving it all she’s got, making her by far the best part of the movie. That’s lucky, considering she’s on screen roughly 90% of the time. The downside is that no other part of the movie is as good as she is. Apart from the structural issues which make the plot feel haphazard and poorly planned, the dialogue clunks like a peg-legged centipede in a footrace on hardwood. The characters don’t exactly pop either, even with Moretz giving the movie more than it’s worth.

If you haven’t already abandoned any plans to watch the movie, you should be forewarned about the violence and profanity. In all honesty, for a movie of this kind, there isn’t a ton of either, although more than enough to make this a bad choice for movie night with grandma. The violence is also fairly standard, right up until a scene which sees a character’s broken ankles repeatedly and deliberately stomped on. Definitely a bad call for grandma.

This isn’t the worst sci-fi thriller I’ve seen of late, but that’s hardly a ringing endorsement. It still struggles with a messy screenplay which drags the movie down like a boat anchor, and no amount of interesting premise or Chloë Grace Moretz can save that. This is the kind of movie you’d start on a plane and turn off midway through because napping is more interesting. Frankly, staring at the seat back in front of you is less frustrating than this movie can be.