Review: 'Mother/Android' Tells an Emotional Story

Post-apocalyptic films are my favorite sub-genre, often focusing on tenacious resiliency. Films about pregnancy and bodily autonomy fascinate me. While lioness mothers are sci-fi protagonists ("Aliens," "Terminator 2"), we don't usually see women in their third trimester in action-heavy roles. "Mother/Android" incorporates these elements to tell an emotional story.

Chloë Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, and Raúl Castillo star, while Mattson Tomlin writes and directs in his directorial debut. (Tomlin also wrote "Little Fish," a stunning and contemplative sci-fi film, and "Project Power," a lackluster sci-fi action film that brims with great ideas.) Using his own background as inspiration, Tomlin said there's "an extremely personal story" in "Mother/Android."

Set in the near future, where androids serve humans as workers, Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her boyfriend Sam (Algee Smith) discover she's pregnant. At a Christmas party, an incident occurs that causes docile androids to suddenly murder humans, igniting the robot apocalypse. Fast forward to nine months later: Georgia and Sam – now on the verge of giving birth – embark on an arduous and dangerous trek to seek a safe home.

Georgia and Sam have spent the last nine months hiding in the woods. Now they seek help from military encampments in order to get to their ultimate destination.

Tense scenes abound: Androids chase Georgia and Sam (at times feeling zombie-esque); Georgia silently and stealthily maneuvers (similar to John Krasinski's horror film "A Quiet Place") through a building full of androids. The androids visually terrify with their glowing blue eyes, "bleeding" black liquid, and metallic black skeletons.

In a great performance, Chloë Grace Moretz, deftly conveys Georgia's emotional landscape, from her vulnerability to her resilience. But we don't know much about the character or her personality, aside from moments that take place mostly in the film's beginning and ending. In an early scene, Georgia confides in a friend her fear about pregnancy and conflicted uncertainty about her relationship with Sam. Before Georgia can reveal what she wants to do about the pregnancy, attacking androids interrupt. I conceptually like the ambiguity of Georgia's feelings. Later, we know Georgia feels loyalty to Sam, not because he's necessarily earned it, but because the narrative tells us so.

Yet, I really enjoy the gender reversal of the Damsel in Distress trope. Sam incessantly talks about protecting her, but Georgia – a nine-months pregnant woman – comes to his aid. This dovetails nicely with conversations in the film about how pregnancy isn't a frail state; people have given birth for centuries.

In their journey, Georgia meets Arthur (Raúl Castillo, in a good performance), a jaded former artificial intelligence programmer who helps her, spouting dialogue evocative of "Come with me if you want to live" from "Terminator" (another sci-fi film about a mother navigating a robot apocalypse). When Georgia asks him what caused androids to revolt, Arthur tells Georgia the problem: "We built them in the first place." He talks about humanity's extinction, an intriguing juxtaposition with Georgia's pregnancy, reminiscent of Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men."

"Mother/Android" contains elements that should synergistically work. While it sometimes does, the film lacks propulsion. Too often, it tells rather than shows. While that is unsurprising, since first-time director Tomlin is a screenwriter, I wish it efficiently utilized other filmmaking elements – acting through body language and facial expressions, art direction, environmental storytelling – rather than relying on heavy-handed and repetitive exposition.

"Mother/Android" builds to an emotional, allegorical ending that moved me to tears. It's an imperfect film buoyed by a moving, poignant core. It's an intimate window into how the end of the world – both external and internal – impacts one woman.

"Mother/Android" streams on Hulu on December 17, 2021.