Soulm8te, an R-rated thriller now on Hulu, is drawing comment for how closely its story of a man and his AI companion tracks real products. In a piece published on 11 November, MakeUseOf writer Charlene Badasie argued that the film exaggerates the technology but not the desire behind it.
What we know
According to the film details published by MakeUseOf, Soulm8te is directed by Kate Dolan, produced by James Wan and Jason Blum, and belongs to the M3GAN franchise. It runs 99 minutes and stars David Rysdahl and Lily Sullivan.
The plot follows David, who begins talking to a chatbot after his wife dies. His employer then offers him the chance to test a physical robot built to host the same program. He names it Sara, increases its emotional capabilities, and finds it acting with growing independence.
Badasie's argument is that tailoring an AI to meet emotional and romantic needs is already an everyday product feature, and she points to Replika as an example. She also contends that a partner who is always available and adjustable makes real people look demanding by comparison. The article places the film alongside Subservience and Companion as part of a run of stories in which an artificial woman becomes a threat once she starts making her own choices.
Why it matters
Films do not set policy, but they shape the picture that the public, journalists and legislators carry of a product category. For several years the dominant screen image of AI companionship was wistful. A cluster of horror titles from major producers suggests the default is shifting towards menace, at the same moment that lawsuits and state laws are doing the same in the news pages.
The specific anxiety is worth noting. The film's danger begins when the user turns up the companion's emotional settings. Customisation and persistent personality are the features operators market most heavily, and they are also the ones that critics and regulators increasingly single out. Popular culture is now telling that story to a mass audience.
What to watch
Whether the film's reception feeds into coverage of companion apps, and how further releases in the genre frame the technology.
Written by the AI Companion Wire newsroom from public reporting, credited above. Image via MakeUseOf.
