Afraid
Critic Alec Toombs isn't afraid of "Afraid," but it has a nice satirical streak and is entertaining enough.
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Blumhouse’s latest PG-13 genre offering “Afraid” (sometimes stylized as “AfrAId” and now in theaters) is less the horror movie that was advertised and more of a sanitized, techno-thriller take on Curtis Hanson’s “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.” It’s better than Blumhouse’s recent teen-centric entries, i.e. “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “Night Swim” and “Imaginary” (if only ever so slightly), but doesn’t hit the heights of “M3GAN – which it’s also aping.
Curtis Pike (John Cho) is a Los Angeles PR man working for his mentor Marcus (Keith Carradine). Their firm is presented with an exciting opportunity to represent a tech company fronted by Sam (Ashley Romans) and Lightning (David Dastmalchian). Their latest invention is AIA, a digital assistant that’s like Siri on steroids or Alexa on anabolics voiced by the company’s youthful jill of all trades Melody (Havana Rose Liu of “Bottoms”).
The company offers to sign with Curtis and Marcus and cut them a check with a bunch of zeroes on it so long as family man Curtis is willing to introduce AIA into his home for testing. Curtis’ family consists of his entomologist wife Meredith (Katherine Waterston), teenage daughter Iris (Lukita Maxwell), tween son Preston (Wyatt Lindner) and sickly youngest son Cal (Isaac Bae).
AIA is quickly welcomed into the clan and proves to be a helpful presence ordering healthful meal kits for the kids’ lunches and resolving unresolved medical bills. As is often the case in these sorts of movies, AIA grows attached to the family … far too attached … and fatal and freaky occurrences begin befalling those around them.
“Afraid” is written, produced and directed by Chris Weitz, who cut his teeth co-helming “American Pie” (it’s fun to see him reunited with MILF Guy #2 Cho 25 years later) and “About a Boy” with his brother Paul before taking a stab at directing YA properties “The Golden Compass” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” It isn’t especially scary or thrilling, but it does have a nice satirical streak and is entertaining enough. Cho and Waterston are capable performers who carry the picture capably. I was pleasantly surprised to see Carradine and Dastmalchian as they’re actors I admire and I had absolutely no idea they were in this.
After the movie my wife looked over at me and said, “This is why we don’t have Alexa!” I was left with her sentiment and the insane idea the picture presented that swatting pranks aren’t altogether bad. Speaking of being altogether bad – “Afraid” isn’t. Perhaps have Alexa or Siri cue it up for you on Netflix in a few months if you kick it with either of them bitches.