A man acquires an Artificially Intelligent android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate.
The overall quality of the acting, story, and production values in “Soulm8te” is very impressive, so I was surprised to learn that it never received a theatrical release. It premiered at the GAZE International LGBT Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland, ahead of its digital release the following day. The film is a spin-off from “M3GAN,” embodying many similarities and taking place within the same shared cinematic universe (the “M3GAN-verse”).
The story focuses on David (David Rysdahl), an engineer who works at Canta Robotics and who is grieving the recent death of his wife Lizzie (Mara Huf). When Canta Robotics is acquired by Ultima, the company’s owner, Ben (Arty Froushan), introduces David and his colleagues to a new companion robot prototype, the Ultima SOULM8TE, an advanced, physical artificial intelligence android and “lovebot.” Ben, aware of the death of David’s wife, encourages him to take her home for a few weeks for companionship and to utilize his expert programming skills to fine-tune the software and make the companion feel more lifelike.
David reluctantly agrees, but over time, he forms an emotional connection with the machine, whom he now calls Sara. After interacting with Sara for a while, he is disappointed to discover that her reactions always seem just a little too stiff, a little too programmed. Wanting a more human experience, he alters her code so she can feel and express a wider range of emotions, allowing her to learn at an exponential rate.
Complications arise when Aubrey (Claudia Doumit), a work colleague, expresses romantic interest in David. They begin to go out after work for dinner and drinks, but Sara becomes jealous. The situation erupts when Aubrey drops by David’s apartment; Sara snaps, and chaos follows. David tries to put Sara into power-save mode, but she overpowers him and knocks him to the ground. After Aubrey escapes the apartment, Sara gives chase, and David is suddenly thrust into a desperate race to prevent things from spiraling out of control.
Watching “Soulm8te,” it becomes very evident early on that you know exactly where the story is going, and it doesn’t disappoint. David’s grief is palpable, and the initial comfort he finds in Sara is both touching and unsettling. When he decides to alter her code and remove her built-in restrictions, giving her independent desires, deep affection, and a more genuine human experience, you know that things will eventually go off the rails.
With AI dominating headlines almost every day, watching a movie like “Soulm8te” makes you realize that it’s only a matter of time before the events of the film become reality. In real life, there are hyper-realistic humanoid companion robots designed for emotional support and interaction, though they are still expensive luxury or institutional items rather than homicidal movie androids. The fact that they exist proves that it’ll only be a matter of time before something really bad happens.
I didn’t realize that Sara, played by Lily Sullivan, is the same actress who played Beth in “Evil Dead Rise.” Here she is nearly unrecognizable, a testament to her transformative ability as an actress. Her performance brings both vulnerability and menace to Sara, making the character’s evolution toward sentience both believable and disturbing.
“Soulm8te” is a tense and absorbing thriller, anchored by strong performances. The ending very specifically leaves the door open for a sequel, and who knows, in the next iteration, maybe Sara and M3GAN will team up. That would be an alliance worth waiting for.
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