The tropes in this film have been done so much that the outcome can be predicted from reading the short synopsis. The deaths are predictable with little build up or sense of urgency. What I found unique was the motive.
The cold open sets the tone for this film: Smart house goes rogue and murders (at least one of) the inhabitants. Who are these people? We'll never know because it never really comes back again. What follows is a standard slasher where the deaths follow the standard formula: sex positive characters first, stoner second, self-absorbed girlfriend third and so on. The final girl and love interest don't get a happy ending, and the film is left open ended.
Margaux (the AI behind the smart house) does have an interesting motive for "her" serial killer tendencies: LOGIC. The AI "learns" through the app installed on the vacationers' phones via social media and personal profiles. "She" is intrigued by logic and becomes frustrated by illogical behaviour. The most illogical to "her"? Murder. So, in an effort to understand, "she" commits endless murder on hundreds of vacationers. She's essentially GLaDOS but with GenZ speak, less sarcasm, goop clones and bad CGI.
Where the plot falls apart for me ultimately is when her mainframe is hacked and we discover that her hardware is obsolete from bygone decades with no explanation as to how it was able to become self-aware. There is nothing further than it just exists, and our last two characters standing upload malware into the system to stop the psycho computer...as is the formula for shutting down evil tech.
Additionally, the kills, while surprising at times, aren't incredibly exciting nor do they build suspense or throw any red herrings at the audience. They just happen without much gore (minus the cold open kill) and move on. Incidental death by slipping on hair extension was not on my slasher bingo card, however.
Overall, the ride was fun with mediocre payoff. I kept expecting to see something completely out of left field, but would be treated to the predictable. It's two by-the-numbers stories merged into one. The acting isn't terrible, and the cinematography is clean. The film could use some pizazz and the story could use some refinement, but I could watch it again.
The cold open sets the tone for this film: Smart house goes rogue and murders (at least one of) the inhabitants. Who are these people? We'll never know because it never really comes back again. What follows is a standard slasher where the deaths follow the standard formula: sex positive characters first, stoner second, self-absorbed girlfriend third and so on. The final girl and love interest don't get a happy ending, and the film is left open ended.
Margaux (the AI behind the smart house) does have an interesting motive for "her" serial killer tendencies: LOGIC. The AI "learns" through the app installed on the vacationers' phones via social media and personal profiles. "She" is intrigued by logic and becomes frustrated by illogical behaviour. The most illogical to "her"? Murder. So, in an effort to understand, "she" commits endless murder on hundreds of vacationers. She's essentially GLaDOS but with GenZ speak, less sarcasm, goop clones and bad CGI.
Where the plot falls apart for me ultimately is when her mainframe is hacked and we discover that her hardware is obsolete from bygone decades with no explanation as to how it was able to become self-aware. There is nothing further than it just exists, and our last two characters standing upload malware into the system to stop the psycho computer...as is the formula for shutting down evil tech.
Additionally, the kills, while surprising at times, aren't incredibly exciting nor do they build suspense or throw any red herrings at the audience. They just happen without much gore (minus the cold open kill) and move on. Incidental death by slipping on hair extension was not on my slasher bingo card, however.
Overall, the ride was fun with mediocre payoff. I kept expecting to see something completely out of left field, but would be treated to the predictable. It's two by-the-numbers stories merged into one. The acting isn't terrible, and the cinematography is clean. The film could use some pizazz and the story could use some refinement, but I could watch it again.