Review by John Delia
Mysterious and intensifying the film Archive takes you into the world of a cybernetic engineer who tries to duplicate his dead wife. Nicely crafted with futuristic sets, seamless computer graphics and much more, the movie entertains much like the film Ex- Machina that wowed sci-fi fans in 2015. In this sci-fi thriller there’s more than meets the eye and as each scene develops, things start to get dangerous leading to an ending far beyond what you may think.
It’s in the 2050’s and we find Cybernetic Engineer George Almore (Theo James) has been working in a secluded stronghold lab in Japan on a secret project for ARM of Archive Systems Inc.’s Heavy Industries. He has been working on the project since his wife Julie (Stacy Martin) died in an auto accident. Wanting to bring her back as an android, he has finished the first prototype J01 and has kept his second stage robot J02 a secret from his boss Simone (Rhona Mitra) the VP of Programming for ARM. Getting closer to his final human looking robot J03, he’s had to avoid even more interference from the security team lead by Vincent Sinclair (Toby Jones).
George has been using video tape of his wife to breathe life into his final J04 model and is on the verge of a working android when things start to get strange in his lab. Director Gavin Rothery turns up the anticipation of a possible escape by George as he now believes he has created his wife. Rothery keeps the suspense high throughout the last half of the film with some good twists leading to his unthinkable finale.
The acting is very good by Theo James as the man that’s heartbroken over the loss of his one true love. Hi character George has developed all the tools, parts and data to rebuild his life, yet all his work is on the brink of disaster. James acts out George’s progress and personality changes as he comes closer to achieving his final goal providing strong empathy for his character. Totally under control of his role he makes the film work.
Archive has not been rated by the MPAA, but does contain some language and violence. The film is now available on VOD and Digital. Check your streaming and other platforms for availability.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nice science fiction change of pace for lovers of the genre. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Rhona Mitra, Theo James, Toby Jones, Stacy Martin,
Directed and written by: Gavin Rothery
Genre: Sci-fi
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 1 hr.45 min.
Opening Date: July 10, 2020
Distributed by: Vertical
Released in: VOD