Parents' Guide to

Zoe (2018)

By Andrea Beach, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Slow-moving sci-fi love story falls flat; some sex, drugs.

Movie R 2018 104 minutes
Zoe (2018) Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 17+

Based on 1 parent review

age 17+

OK...

Starts off as a glacially-slow romance movie, then becomes something properly sci-fi and good in the second half. It's quite artistic in the end. Lots of very tight close-up shots of actors faces. Shaky hand-held camera work sometimes makes the close-ups annoying. Also has sex-bot/lingerie stuff. Has drug stuff.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Two of Hollywood's leading luminaries and talented supporters like Rashida Jones, Miranda Otto, and Christina Aguilera unfortunately weren't enough to help the script find its way out of a paper bag. Just because they're spoken quietly by attractive people, cliches about love and artificial intelligence don't magically become profound. Possibly in attempt to balance some of the awfulness, McGregor and Seydoux improvise a number of scenes, but even those seem forced, possibly because the two fine actors never quite generate any on-screen chemistry.

The quiet, gentle pace of Zoe is sometimes at odds with the lens flare that seems to be mandatory in science fiction movies now. And the pace is sustained throughout the movie, which makes it a bit of a slog from about the halfway point. Adult situations, fictional drug use, and sexuality make it best for older teens and up, although there are many better choices out there for viewers interested in exploring man's relationship to technology and its effects on our emotional well being.

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