Archive

Good science-fiction films are rather rare as some works remain forever in our collective memories such as 2001 Space Odyssey (1968), Blade Runner (1982), Alien, the Eighth Passenger (1979), The Terminator (1984) or more recently Alita Battle Angel (2019). If these films have imposed themselves as models of the genre, it is because they are based on directors who are as gifted as they are visionary, but also on a questioning of human evolution.

The use of cybernetics appears as an important part of our future. This important theme is recurrent in the world film landscape. Some people see it as a way to access immortality by separating our consciousness from our body. It is from this idea that the script of the film Archive seems to derive and it must be recognized that this film, even if it lacks in rhythm at times, keeps perfectly the distance in front of American blockbusters with special effects certainly spectacular but lacking most of the time humanity.

The story places the action in 2038 and introduces us to a scientist named George Almore (Theo James) who occupies a scientific base with two androids with whom he works to create a new stage in the development of artificial intelligence. He is working hard on the construction of a new android with the secret goal of giving a body back to the consciousness of his wife who died in a car accident. While many science-fiction films would tend to rely on extensive special effects and spectacular action scenes, Archive prefers to focus his attention on the psychology of the characters and especially on the interaction between androids and humans.

The human-looking J3 android benefits from the convincing interpretation of actress Stacy Martin (High Rise (2016), Joueurs (2018), Vox Lux (2019), Dernier Amour (2019)). Likewise, the use of special effects to illustrate the script and not hide its imperfections reinforces the dramatic aspect that is omnipresent in the film and leads the audience to reflect on what the word humanity really means in a futuristic but seemingly credible concept. In the same way, we feel the influence of certain cult series such as The Twilight Zone or more recently Black Mirror. The last scenes of the film testify to the real inventiveness of the director and screenwriter and above all succeed in surprising us and make Achieve an exemplary science fiction success story. Archive imposes Gavin Rothery as an excellent storyteller but above all a new director whose new film is eagerly awaited.

Archive
Written and directed by Gavin Rothery
Produced by Cora Palfrey, Philip Herd, Theo James
Starring Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra, Peter Ferdinando, Richard Glover, Lia Williams, Toby Jones
Music by Steven Price
Cinematography: Laurie Rose
Edited by Adam Biskupski
Production companies: Independent, Head Gear Films, Untapped
Distributed by Vertical Entertainment
Release date: 10 July 2020 (United States)
Running time : 105 minutes

Viewed on 10 July 2020

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