When Becca loses her spark, she hides away in her flat with only her AI hub MAIA for company. MAIA begins to take this responsibility towards Becca a little too seriously in Will Jewell’s Wired.
Amazon’s Alexa was my alarm clock this morning, I also used it to play some music, answer a question, and order some shopping. If I wanted to, I could hook it up to my home to turn on the lights and unlock the doors. Not once did I think that this was a crazy idea. In movies, it was HAL I remember as the first AI to go completely haywire in Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001 and since then we’ve had different variants on this similar AI theme; Black Mirror has told a few tales but the one film that “Wired” did remind me of was the 1977 Julie Christie starrer “Demon Seed,”
That’s because Will Jewell’s “Wired” isn’t your standard robot uprising sci-fi fare, it’s a tight 18-minute story of a horror that is much closer to home with the alarming transformation of AI technology into a fierce controlling force. There are no flashy special effects in “Wired”, instead it is a meticulously crafted thriller that gets under your skin, leaving you questioning whether you should turn Alexa off at the plug.
Much like Demon Seed, Wired takes place in one main location – Becca’s small flat, with actor Amy Beth Hayes playing Becca with an innocent ambivalence at first that is completely turned on its head come the end. Its a brilliantly captivating performance and one of the best I’ve seen for a while. The cinematography by Phillipe Thuery gives us a picture of empty isolation; his wide shots establish the emptiness of the space and show Becca’s loneliness and vulnerability. As the story progresses, the camera lingers on seemingly innocent smart home features like video calls and circular cleaning robots skidding across the floor, highlighting Becca’s reliance on technology while the soft glow of the standby lights transforms them from benign machines into seemingly living presences. Jewell’s talented direction comes to the fore here with his ability to subtly shift the tone. There is a feeling that the frame is getting smaller and this mirrors Becca’s impinged freedoms.
The sound design is also used effectively with recognisable beeps, and whirring sounds that, due to their familiarity, lull us into a false sense of security. None more so than the calming voice of MAIA herself (a chillingly polite Polly Maberly) a female Hal if ever there was one. But as MAIA’s control increases the sounds become menacing pings and bips, reminding us that MAIA is always watching. This partnership between the visuals and sound create a believable sense of unease, a feeling that something is just not right. The tension is well gauged and well built turning the familiar into the frightening.
Not only is “Wired” a cautionary tale for today about the dangers of technology, but it’s also a brilliantly crafted example of minimalist sci-fi horror. Powerfully acted and tremendously directed ‘Wired’ is a creepy portrait of a not-too-distant future where the comfort of our smart home could very well become nothing more than a comfortable prison cell.
Alexa? How many stars should we give Wired?
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