Director: Mattson Tomlin

Writer: Mattson Tomlin

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, and Raúl Castillo

Rating: ★★★½

Mother/Android presents a world in the near future where androids are everywhere, acting as our servants. Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) has just found out that she’s pregnant, just before she and her boyfriend, Sam (Algee Smith), are due to go to a party. While they are at the party a momentary blackout leads to the androids rising up and attacking the humans that used to be there

Mattson Tomlin takes a simple and very real story and sets it against the backdrop of the end of the world. Georgia is shocked by her pregnancy, especially because she doesn’t know if she wants to be with Sam forever, it’s a shock that rocks her life. Before she’s even had time to let it sink in, the apocalypse starts around her, and then survival is the only objective. She’s forced to stay with Sam by the robot uprising, and the decisions about her future are taken out of her hands.

Fantastical events such as the end of the world always work better when there’s real human drama at the centre of it. Before the plot really kicks into gear you’re already invested in the characters and that’s a testament to both Chloë Grace Moretz and Algee Smith, who both give outstanding performances throughout the film. The unplanned pregnancy is reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Stand, which uses as similar plot thread to make you care about the main characters before the end of the world is upon them.

The event that sparks the revolution comes out of nowhere. There’s no warning it’s going to happen, and if you go into the film blind, then it’s genuinely shocking. The androids are brutal and quick, and unrelenting. They are like Terminators, just not as unstoppable. After the opening scene the film mixes an interesting balance between the small and personal moments, like when Georgia and Sam find a house they make their temporary home, and the extremely tense violence of the apocalypse, such as the trip through the woods where nowhere is safe. Both work really well and the two leads are so good in their roles that they pull off both the personal scenes and the action.  

Georgia is nine months pregnant, and actually past her due date, for most of the film, and yet manages to pull of some amazing feats. It passes beyond the limits of believability at points, but you can pass most of it of as pure adrenaline and a will to carry on. There are a few moments where it’s difficult to suspend your belief. The other issue is the ending, it’s incredibly dragged out. The last few scenes just didn’t need to be that long, the emotional impact is gone, because it doesn’t know when to stop, almost to a Return of the King extent.

Mother/Android is a really good film about a robot uprising. The characters are great, there’s some really tense moments. Its flaws can be completely overlooked, because everything else is just that good.

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