Isolés

"The house is creepy," was Lucia's comment to her husband. She was convinced that the house was out to get her. The house actually was creepy. It was an AI controlled house that Johann had built. He explained to Lucia that the house didn't dislike her - it just knew him better and it would get to know her. That's all in the first few scenes and so you think that you're being set up for a sci-fi/thriller kind of movie about a smart house gone mad. But that's really not the point of the movie at all. The house is just a backdrop to what turns out to be more of a political thriller instead.

It's set in Germany in the not too distant future (2029) - which gives this a sense of immediacy and, therefore, of credibility. (It's also a German movie - I watched a version with German audio and English subtitles.) Germany has been moving to the right and a far right group is expected to win an upcoming election. But there already seems to be a kind of neo-fascist state developing. Dissent isn't tolerated. Johann has lost his job as a writer for being critical of the government. Lucia is a lawyer who's defended dissidents. They're both potential targets. This smart house (on an isolated island) is their refuge. But is it a place of refuge or danger?

The weaving of the AI storyline with the political is interesting because it gives the movie two current and very real fears to use as a hook - the fear of AI gone wild and the fear of the rise of the far right, which does seem to be happening throughout the western world. Having these combined into a single movie says to me that this should have been better than it turned out to be. The house was a backdrop more than anything - remembered mostly for its camera (a black dot surrounded by red that to me had a very "1984" Big Brother feel to it.) And while I understood the political warning of the film I would have liked more of a depiction of what kind of society was developing in Germany. Instead, the setting of the movie was almost completely the house, except for an opening scene in Johann's workplace. A look at the outside to get a clearer picture of what was going on would have been appreciated.

The movie is lacking in colour (almost everything except the red eye of the camera) seems to be white or grey - deliberately I'm sure giving the impression of a sterile and bland and passionless society. And, really, that's my feeling about the movie as a whole. It's not bad, but it had the potential to be more than that. (6/10)