Sundance 2024: ‘Love Me’ is an Creative Sci-Fi Story of Defining ‘You’
by Alex Billington
January 22, 2024
Are you actually you? What makes you, you? The necessary existential questions of our time. Fashionable society has moved to the defensive perception that, in fact everyone seems to be themselves, in fact you’ll be able to’t argue with that! How dare you query that! However – what if the issues that you just declare make you you, aren’t really real? What if most individuals are literally dwelling pretend lives, attempting to copy and mannequin another particular person they appear as much as, as an alternative of defining themselves authentically. That is the concept that this mesmerizing new movie grapples with – in a captivating, visually compelling, and unquestionably thought-provoking manner. Love Me is without doubt one of the most modern movies I’ve seen thus far in 2024 (whereas wading via the terrific Sundance 2024 choice). It is obtained a couple of flaws, and it does not dig deep sufficient into these questions and ideas, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an bold, one-of-a-kind cinematic creation in contrast to something I’ve encountered earlier than. The premise: sooner or later after humanity is gone, a leftover “good buoy” and a satellite tv for pc orbiting Earth join and fall in love.
Love Me is written and directed by filmmakers Sam & Andy Zuchero, premiering on the 2024 Sundance Movie Competition within the prestigious U.S. Dramatic Competitors part. I’ll fortunately defend this movie as one in all its huge supporters, even when I feel it has some points. I do suppose many will dislike this movie, calling it dumb or pretentious or foolish. Nonetheless, Love Me is a worthwhile as a result of the visualization of the buoy + satellite tv for pc love story is unconventional. They visualize this “romantic” connection utilizing each cinematic trick within the e-book – with precise, actual objects rendered with life-like actions just like Pixar’s Wall-E, and with precise actors who seem at one level. In addition to with screen-based storytelling; the satellite tv for pc has a storage financial institution with the entire information from Earth (mainly your complete web saved on its orbiting harddrives). The actors seem after they’re pulled from pictures and movies discovered on this database, and every one builds an id round what they will discover within the archives. Primarily the movie turns into a narrative about – how do you create your id? Particularly: what would advanced A.I. reference if it needed to humanize itself and establish as a “particular person”?
Although here is the precise reality of the movie: it is not likely about Synthetic Intelligence. As soon as once more, it is merely a storytelling gimmick, to be able to make a movie that’s really about humanity. In fact, it’s possible you’ll say, nevertheless it’s straightforward to get misplaced within the A.I. story as if it is attempting to be one other futuristic take a look at how A.I. would work together with and use the countless archives of human content material to know what people have been like earlier than they wiped themselves out. One of many first chapters of the movie that can take some viewers out of it includes a corny 3D CGI visualization of those two “folks” – as performed by Kristen Stewart (the buoy who goes by “Me”) and Steven Yeun (the satellite tv for pc who goes by “I Am”). It is ugly and cartoonish however, that’s in the end the purpose. It is the primary reference to our fashionable social media obsessed society, referencing the “Metaverse” and these dumb Memoji characterizations that many individuals do really use when creating their on-line persona. This movie is appearing as meta commentary on these fake identities that everybody is obsessive about creating and dwelling via. They’re crude characterizations and that’s a part of the cultural criticism baked proper into the movie.
Love Me is without doubt one of the first movies I’ve seen that boldly states an goal reality that many don’t wish to cope with: most individuals live pretend lives, only a few are literally actually actually genuinely themselves. Every time a movie places a mirror as much as society like this, most reject it, most will soar at calling it dumb or boring as a result of they “know this” already. But then they go away the theater and exit to reside their pretend lives once more. Love Me makes some bold narrative choices that power the buoy and satellite tv for pc to query themselves and ask whether or not they’re being actual. Within the first half, they get obsessive about dwelling a social media influencer way of life time and again, till they breakdown and notice it is all pretend. Then they need to tear every part down and determine who they’re and rebuild themselves. Whereas I do want the movie was in the end a cinematic information to how one can actually be the “actual you”, it stops quick and focuses on merely reminding humanity that we’re all pretend. And we significantly want to interrupt out of this cycle, regardless of what number of hundreds of thousands or billions of years it will take.
Alex’s Sundance 2024 Ranking: 8 out of 10
Observe Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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