In the early scenes of this sci-fi thriller we see protagonist Julia, a small time thief, gets taken from her home. When she wakes she is in a lab and has an implant in the back of her neck. After a painful procedure she is sent to a cell where she finds two others people in a similar predicament. An escape attempts leads to the destruction of the lab but not her freedom. Her captor, scientist Alex, intends to complete his experiments; this will require Julia to do various mental tasks under the supervision of TAU; the artificial intelligence that controls the house and its systems... which include a lethal robotic sentry. If Julia is to escape she will have to find a way to reason with TAU.

I rather enjoyed this film; it may contain plenty of elements from other films but it still works well and kept me gripped. Julia is a good protagonist; tough but not excessively so and Alex is a menacing, largely due to the fact that he controls TAU and the robot. TAU is interesting too; it is described as an Artificial Intelligence but it is more than that; an Artificial Conscience which clearly has emotions. The scenes with Julia trying to bargain with TAU were fun and not too rushed. While there isn't a huge amount of action what there was, was exciting and raised the tension notably. The cast was solid; Maika Monroe impressed as Julia and Ed Skrein was effective as Alex, a character who is outwardly very calm but prone to busts of violent anger. The special effects were pretty good. Overall I'd say this was a pretty decent sci-fi film; worth checking out.

Maika Monroe just kicks ass in this role. She carries the film single handedly, developing a multilayered character that's totally convincing. I'm looking forward to seeing lots more of this gifted young actor. She fights to survive the most mountainous odds, created by a technology sociopath, and her inventiveness at every turn is astounding. Her blossoming relationship with the siciopath's abused computer leads to a most satisfying plot resolution. There's a gender aspect to the story if you care to look at the film in that light, which provides a bit of the glue that holds the story together. The male creator of the computer abuses and imprisons it, Monroe's female protagonist treats the computer like her own child, teaching it, reading to it, and respecting its personhood as a separate entity. There's heaps of complex symbolism in these relationships about the future of relationships between humans and the AI they create. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen the whole time. Great movie experience.

TAU is another Netflix-made movie and a mix of the science fiction and thriller genres. After an arresting, hair-raising opening sequence the action is centred in a high-tech, artily-lit house which is inhabited by a crazy inventor, a trapped heroine, and a cool-looking robot. The whole story then plays out between these three characters. Inevitably the story is rather cliched and feels weak and comic book-style in comparison to similar pieces like DEMON SEED, although it did remind me more of SATURN 3. Gary Oldman is fun as the voice of the computer but too often the script reduces him to lines which sound straight out of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The human cast members fare less well, with Maika Monroe merely repeating her emperilled schtick from IT FOLLOWS and Ed Skrein having little to work with. Still, the film looks nice, it has a fast pace and plenty of incident, so it's not all bad.