REVIEW #133 Mother/Android (2021)

Mother/Android is a sci-fi thriller directed by Mattson Tomlin and is set in a post-apocalyptic world where androids have taken over America. Georgia and Sam are trekking across the country to find a safe place to give birth to their child, attempting to avoid the murderous androids along the way.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Chloë Grace Moretz leads the cast as Georgia and she actually delivers a really strong performance. Granted there’s not an awful lot for the cast to do at the start of the film but by the time the ending comes Moretz portrays such incredible emotion that she really impacts the audience. Sam is played by Algee Smith and unfortunately I don’t think he’s anywhere close to matching Moretz’ performance. He portrayed a man wanting to prove he can protect his family really well but everything else kind of felt slightly one dimensional. Where Moretz was making the audience cry at the end of the film, he wasn’t really showing any emotion at all and considering the circumstances, he really should have been. Raúl Castillo was the only other actor I recognised, he played Arthur and actually he performed well. I don’t want to go into his performance too much as I want to leave a sense of mystery around him for those who haven’t watched it yet. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The storyline is really what got me to watch the film, I like projects set in post apocalyptic worlds and the idea of androids taking over is probably the most realistic route to get there, considering how advanced technology is getting now. Georgia finds out she’s pregnant just before the androids took over so we see her 9 months pregnant as her and Sam trek across America trying to find refuge. Unfortunately there’s just not enough thrills for Mother/Android to be memorable film. The first half is just unnecessary build up where nothing really happens and it’s pretty much just Georgia and Sam bickering. Then when we finally see a glimpse of action it’s not enough to get you on the edge of your seat, that’s emphasised by the fact you know that Georgias not in danger because the director wouldn’t harm the lead character who is 9 months pregnant. The ending is definitely the best part about the film not only does it have some decent action sequences but the end monologue from Georgia brought tears to my eyes and to be honest I didn’t care too much about the film before that so it took me by surprise. It left room for a sequel and how they set it up meant that the sequel would probably be a lot better, so hopefully we get to see that. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

They kept the special effects really minimal which I liked, I would imagine they used mainly prosthetics with slight CGI touches to create the androids and some of them looked really cool. These androids looked human so the only time we saw the metal underneath was when injuries would reveal it and they actually created some pretty scary designs. The cinematography was good and as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews I really enjoy films set in vast woodland areas, I think it creates a really nice setting where the sunlight can be utilised to create some beautiful organic visuals. I don’t think there’s much else to comment on for this category, minimalistic but in a good way for sure.

OVERALL (4.5/10)

Mother/Android had so much potential, based on the synopsis it had everything to be a film I really enjoyed. However there just wasn’t enough in the film for it to be successful, the first half was super slow and wasn’t engaging at all really. They should have shortened that part and then explored the ending further, adding in a few more thrills for the audience to enjoy. The cinematography and effects were a strong point, they kept it minimalistic but that worked really well. Chloë Grace Moretz was great and that ending really hit me, she was excellent there. Unfortunately the rest of the cast was pretty average and forgettable, so I can only give a low score of 4.5. That being said, I do hope they make a sequel because the way they set it up, a sequel has a chance to be a lot better. 

Thanks for reading.

Callan