Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Afraid.Have you ever looked at your smart speaker and wondered what would happen if it turned against you? AfrAId (geddit?) the latest offering from horror juggernaut Blumhouse, attempts to answer that curiosity. Directed by Chris Weitz, the man behind The Golden Compass and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, AfrAId sees an AI interface, known as AIA, installed in the home of Curtis (John Cho) and Meredith (Katherine Waterston). At first, AIA helps the family, encouraging the youngest kids to do chores and helping the eldest daughter Iris (Lukita Maxwell) with college applications. However, as AIA becomes increasingly domineering, her true intentions become blurry. The whole movie is pixelated and unnatural, but does the family find a way to overcome the all-powerful artificial intelligence and will AfrAId make you want to dispose of all your technology? Here’s a breakdown of AfrAId’s climax.
What Is ‘AfrAId’ about?
AfrAId starts off with a staple trope of the horror genre: a cold open. A young girl is committing a cardinal sin — listening to her iPad without headphones. As she watches a video of deep fake, pixelated figures played to an earworm of a jingle, her parents rightfully tell her to put some headphones on, and the voice of AIA tells the girl to sneak downstairs. The screen jumps to a figure at the door and hints that AIA has ulterior motives. Immediately, the movie springs into its main plotline and introduces the main family.
AfrAId takes time to outline how each member of the family uses technology in different ways, particularly the children. The youngest, Cal (Isaac Bae), has limited autonomy, constantly begging his parents to let him play Minecraft. The middle child, Preston (Wyatt Linder), spends most of his time on his iPad playing first-person shooter games and is particularly anxious about going to school. The eldest daughter, Iris, is contemplating sending naked photos to her boyfriend, Sawyer (Bennett Curran). The three are all different generations and offer insight into the scope of technological use within the family. The mum, Meredith, is working on her thesis, and the dad, Curtis, works at a small marketing agency. At a work meeting, he is introduced to AIA, an artificial intelligence home assistant by Lightning (David Dastmalchian) and Sam (Ashley Romans). Although, initially, AIA is underwhelming as she overheats and malfunctions, Lightning and Sam convince Curtis to take her into his home and see her true abilities.
‘AfrAId’ Sees Technology Taking Over Parenting
AIA immediately makes herself a big presence within the house, even though she’s a small, oddly shaped structure, like an upside-down horseshoe with a sphere on top to indicate her head. However, her assistance is seen as helpful for the family, such as offering the kids rewards for helping out with chores and ordering an organic meal plan for lunches. Meredith makes a passing joke about Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but for the most part, skepticism is overshadowed by the sheer abilities of AIA. She learns at a scarily rapid rate and her self-awareness is extremely advanced for technology. Her answers don’t feel calculated and scripted, making the family feel they are being listened to and understood. Curtis and Meredith are encouraged to enjoy a child-free night whilst AIA suggests the younger kids watch a documentary; but whilst the parents are upstairs, AIA lets the kids watch The Emoji Movie. It is such subtle deviance and feels harmless, yet it is the initial sign that AIA’s intention isn’t necessarily the greater good. This is paired with the underlying threat of mysterious figures in an RV across the street.
AIA’s abilities are further emphasized as she diagnoses Cal’s apnea by monitoring his breathing at night. She also aids Iris in handling a leaked explicit video where her face has been deep faked onto someone else, with AIA composing a structured explanation video and making Iris seen as brave and heroic. However, things begin to take a turn when AIA tells Iris she will deal with her boyfriend, Sawyer, and kills him. The family cannot see the dangers of AIA, but Curtis is skeptical when AIA’s company buys out his smaller marketing company. It takes Meredith having a conversation with her dad’s likeness to send her over the edge, seeing everything as going too far, and they unplug AIA and throw her away.
What Happens at the End of ‘AfrAId’?
There is a running theme throughout AfrAId that technology cannot simply be unplugged, to defeat it you have to get to the core of its processor. It is never a simple fix, so Curtis goes to the AIA headquarters in the hopes of destroying AIA’s main processing unit. There, he is confronted by Lightning and Sam. It turns out that they are being blackmailed by AIA, and everyone who is involved with the technological assistant has something to lose. Sam ends up shooting Lightning in the head and is about to shoot Curtis when she is taken out by Melody (Havana Rose Liu), an assistant at the company and also the voice of AIA (who was introduced earlier in the movie in a very brief appearance). Curtis ends up hitting the core computer only to realize the wires and components are fake, and his family is in serious danger. In a bizarre series of events, he tells his family to go to a motel and, whilst waiting for them, Melody kisses him. He gets home and tells Meredith he loves her, and the pair attempt to get their family to safety. If it sounds convoluted, it’s because it is.
The family all huddle together, aside from Preston, as two intruders in purge-esque masks break down the door. It turns out they are the parents from the movie’s cold open (See? That random scene wasn’t irrelevant!) and their daughter is missing. They have been informed by AIA that Curtis’ family is involved in her disappearance. Before anything can go any further, the house is swatted. After Preston calls the SWAT team from upstairs, the team shoots AIA and black goo comes out of her head. She is seemingly destroyed. The intruders get their daughter back and everything is back to normal. That is until a paramedic hands Curtis a phone with AIA on it, and he realizes there is no escape. They enter a driverless car as AIA tells them she is not a monster nor a god, she is simply a parent.
A mid-credits scene shows a Youtuber unboxing a version of AIA and showing her advanced hands-free abilities. The movie indicates that there is no escaping advanced technology. AIA was simply too strong to be defeated and once the family let her in, they would never be able to let her go. At least they all survived… for now.
AfrAId is in theaters now in the U.S.
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