Why is it so much easier to trust the latest tech more than those around us?
Directed by Spencer Brown, T.I.M. tells the story of Abi (Georgina Campbell), a prosthetics engineer invited to work on an artificial intelligence bot that seems ready to revolutionize our home lives. However, after the bot begins to malfunction, this Technologically Integrated Manservant (T.I.M.) slowly exhibits tendencies that threaten his human owners.
Smartly written and executed, there’s a brain within T.I.M. that makes him worth welcoming him into your home. Coming on the heels of M3GAN and The Creator, films about the perils of artificial intelligence have become a hot topic within pop culture at this time. (Even Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning took a crack at the terrors of our tech.) Even so, while T.I.M. runs the risk of being just another film in a growing pile, Spencer ensures that his narrative has its [digital] fury. Featuring some enjoyable performances by its cast (including a positively chilling Eamon Farron as the delusional bot), T.I.M. becomes delightful escapism that never lets the audience entirely off the hook for their own technological addictions.
As with other films of this nature, T.I.M. operates with a certain level of dread. But most bone chilling about Tim is how authentic it truly feels. While the film has an otherworldly tone, T.I.M’s smartly-written script keeps itself grounded in reality. While we may not have welcomed robotic servants into our home, we live at a time when we become increasingly dependent on our devices.
But, as a result, the film also points out that it seems easier to trust our technology than we do each other. If something is sleek and tidy, Brown’s characters seem to feel safer with that than the unpredictable nature of humanity. For Abi, it’s impossible to believe that T.I.M. could malfunction because technology seems reliable. Unlike human relationships, there’s no hurt feelings in the past to reconcile. Instead, machines live their lives by codes that remain controllable. Whether it’s our Alexa devices or smartphones, the film serves as a reminder of the numerous ways in which we surrender our personal information on a daily basis. Everyday decisions such as handing over our passwords or receiving targeted ads are mere echoes of the intricate relationship that we have with our tech in the world of social networking.
And we do so willingly.
Further, there’s a very real sense within the film that there’s a part of human nature that simply cannot be replicated. While Spencer depicts the AI revolution as sleek and progressive, he also recognizes that the messiest parts of humanity cannot be re-created via binary code. Deeply human connections are never simple, sitting in the messiness of imperfect people. T.I.M. cracks open this reality, pointing out that love isn’t simply appreciation or dependance. Instead, it’s a complicated dance that appreciates the good and the bad in each other. It’s messy and often difficult… but, ultimately, makes us human. (As one character reminds us, “the messy part is the best part.”)
T.I.M. sees that humanity is broken but there’s beauty in that too.
T.I.M. is available on VOD and Digital on Friday, January 12th, 2024.
