Adapted from the acclaimed Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans, Humans is like a modern day I, Robot, Blade Runner, or Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence where the focus is split between a hunt for anthropomorphic “synths” that appear to have some form of sentience — always resulting in a desire to live freely — and the family life of the Hawkins, as they adjust to living with Anita (Gemma Chan), their attractive new robot servant. Gemma Chan’s fantastic portrayal of Anita (and then Mia — the subconscious personality within Anita) is easily comparable to Alicia Vikander’s performance as Ava in this year’s Ex_Machina, whereby the interactors (both within the story and ourselves) can never be sure if the robots are simply reflecting, or subversively endorsing, all of our hidden desires and insecurities. Mileage varies with some of the supporting storylines, but they are all populated with interesting characters. For example, William Hurt’s Dr. Millican presents one of the most unforgettably affecting bonds between a human and an AI that I’ve ever seen.
This 200 word capsule review is published at PopMatters.com, where you can read the rest of the feature for free.
Carl Wilson 