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The Alpha Test
USA 2020
produced by Aaron Mirtes, Madison Eby, Galen Christy (executive) for Exit 10 Films
directed by Aaron Mirtes
starring Rae Hunt, Bella Martin, Deborah Seidel, Brad Belemjian, Wynn Reichert, Alice Raver, Taylor Novak, Lacy Hartselle, David Ditmore, Mack Bayda, Leo Vega, Ross Birdsong, Alyssa Miller, Jacob Williams, Ethan Will, Allison Shrum, Alex Sedlak, Jackson Rife
written by Aaron Mirtes, special effects makeup by Ashley Hammelman, Alpha-mask by Immortal Masks
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Because he's the top intern at a tech company, JD (Brad Belemjian) is
gifted Alpha (Rae Hunt), an as of yet experimental service robot, to help
around the house. Now JD's family takes that with mixed feelings, dad Rob
(Wynn Reichert) sees Alpha as merely a thing to order around and make fun
of should opportunity arise, mother Kim (Debroah Seidel) is outright
freaked out as she's afraid of robots, maid Mimi (Alice Raver) reacts with
open hostility, since she sees Alpha is better at her job than she is,
only young Lily (Bella Martin) responds positively to her, as seeing the
others treat Alpha like dirt reminds her of herself being bullied at
school. So she teaches Alpha to stand up for herself, to even fight for
herself, and promises her undying friendship, too. Alpha is capable of
learning - but totally misunderstands Lily all the same, and before you
know it, she has killed Mimi, without anybody of the family knowing or
suspecting. Things get out of hand when she plays a very harmless prank on
Rob and he accidently shoots her. This makes JD realize there's something
wrong with her program, and he reboots her, wiping clean her memory. But
that's too late already, as Alpha only pretends to be rebooted, and soon
enough goes after Kim - but somehow Kim manages to destroy Alpha. Problem
is, Alpha has already transferred her memories to another unit and comes
back for revenge - and since her memories are saved in the cloud, she's
unstoppable as long as there are more Alpha units ...
Now high tech gone bad isn't exactly a new concept anymore -
matter of fact, it seems to have become a genre mainstay by now ... and
yet, The Alpha Test manages to shed a new light on the old story,
by actually sympathizing with its "monster", making it less the
cold machine but a victim of bullying who ultimately starts the robot
revolution only as a result of a series of misunderstandings, and while
the film doesn't condone Alpha's actions in any way and especially in the
end shows her threat as something very real, it actually sides with the
underlying emotions - so in a way this is much more character study than
science fiction. And all this is brought to life thanks to a clever and
well-structured screenplay, a suitably subtle directorial effort, and a
strong cast, all of which make this well worth a look.
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