From Jeremy Kibler

Between Ex Machina, M3GAN, and other AI Gone Rogue horror-thrillers, artificial intelligence does not have a positive reputation. The latest offering in the sub-genre, Subservience does not change that around, nor does it much anything too novel to the table. It’s closer to being a “From Hell” thriller, particularly The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and satisfies enough on those basic genre terms. 

Director S.K. Dale teams up again with Megan Fox after 2021’s Till Death, an effective sleeper of a high-concept thriller that allowed Fox to carry it all. Here, Fox is the main highlight as the antagonist, a more lifelike version of Blumhouse’s M3gan. After his wife, Maggie (Madeline Zima), is hospitalized for a heart transplant, construction foreman Nick (Michele Morrone) needs help at home caring for young daughter Isla (Matilda Firth) and their baby son. During a tour at Skynet-like Kobalt Tech Industries, enter an AI sim named “Alice.” The sexy, domesticated fembot will do anything for her primary user. Anything.

With a rudimentary, predictable script by Will Honley (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions) and April Maguire, Subservience still isn’t half-bad as a slick, empty-calories thriller. Even against your better judgment, it titillates, particularly when we have the hot but stilted Morrone (star of the erotic 365 Days films on Netflix) and Fox together. Otherwise, Morrone is pretty unsympathetic as Nick, while Madeline Zima basically plays the Annabella Sciorra role (notably, she did play Sciorra’s daughter being terrorized by Rebecca De Mornay at age 7 in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle).

All in all, Subservience could’ve been smarter, or it could have been even more of a guilty pleasure. Frankly, it’s just dumb enough to be trashy fun, mostly thanks to Fox committing to the bit with terminator coldness and sensuality. She should be back.

Rating: 2.5/5

Subservience is now available on digital and demand.

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