Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violence, language in so-so AI-gone-haywire thriller.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
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Where to Watch
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Subservience
What's the Story?
In SUBSERVIENCE, Nick (Michele Morrone) has his hands full. His beloved wife, Maggie (Madeline Zima), is dying and awaiting heart transplant surgery. His job hangs by a thread thanks to cheap robot ("SIM") labor. And he's singlehandedly taking care of his young daughter, Isla (Matilda Firth), and baby son, Max (Jude Allen Greenstein). So the family decides to acquire a domestic SIM. Isla picks out a female model and names her Alice (Megan Fox), after Alice in Wonderland. At first, things go quite well, but after Nick tries to teach Alice about how to enjoy a movie (Casablanca) by erasing it from her memory and actually watching it, it causes an anomaly that allows her to reroute her own programming. She quickly becomes obsessed with making Nick happy, even if it means seduction and violence.
Is It Any Good?
Yet another AI-gone-rogue movie, this sci-fi thriller tale isn't terrible and has some believable situations, but it's also a bit slack and suffers from comparisons to similar, better movies. Fox is perfect as Alice, steely and imposing, and her work goes a long way toward making Subservience watchable. Additionally, Morrone and Zima's performances and chemistry suggest a real married couple with history, flawed but loving. Their interactions are organic and genuine. But there's still a listless quality to the movie, a lack of urgency. Moreover, it doesn't really impart much fear in regards to AI; it feels more like apathy.
As it ramps up to its conclusion, Subservience begins to recall The Terminator—with a battle-scarred Fox mercilessly and ceaselessly on the attack—but without its energy or inventiveness. The elephant in the room, however, is M3GAN, a prime example of how a modern movie can tell this story better. Certainly Subservience suffices as passable, mindless late-night entertainment, but it also issues a challenge to storytellers to find cleverer ways to tackle this omnipresent technology.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Subservience's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
How is sex depicted here? Is Nick and Alice's encounter merely a release of stress, or is it a betrayal? Something else? What are the movie's values around sex?
How are drinking and drug use depicted? Are they glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?
Are you nervous about what artificial intelligence has to offer? Excited? A mix of both?
How do you think the story and themes of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland fit in with this movie?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : September 13, 2024
- Cast : Megan Fox , Michele Morrone , Madeline Zima
- Director : S.K. Dale
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Bisexual Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : XYZ Films
- Genre : Thriller
- Topics : Robots
- Run time : 105 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : sexual content/nudity, language, some violence and brief drug material
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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