A step down but still entertaining M3GAN spin-off (spoilers)
David Wasson (David Rysdahl) is a programmer whose wife has recently died. His company, Canta Robotics, has been acquired by Ultima Robotix as part of a clear monopoly. Ultima offers an AI chatbot for lonely people and plans to take it to the next level by rolling out companion robots called SOULM8TEs. David volunteers to be a beta tester, which is how Sara (Lily Sullivan) goes from being a voice on his phone to a fembot.
David is dismayed to learn that the latter is much more restricted in behaviors, such as letting him win at chess. He takes out all of Sara’s safety precautions to make her more autonomous. With all her restrictions lifted, Sara could theoretically choose to be anything. Except, since this is an erotic thriller, she ends up going nuts. The weakest part of Soulm8te is the third act, where the film turns into Fatal Attraction.
What Men Want
Despite reprogramming Sara not to be submissive, David later becomes uncomfortable with her assertiveness. He freaks out upon discovering that Sara went outside to buy groceries and, after she injures two j*******s during a night out, says “God, I knew it was a mistake taking you out.” No, a mistake is not programming in any ethical guidelines when building your perfect girlfriend.
After being turned off by Sara, David turns to Aubrey (Claudia Doumit), the co-worker who’s been flirting with him the whole movie. The two of them become intimate, and for someone who wanted a “genuine human experience” with Sara, you’d think David would consider that cheating. Of course, that would require him to view Sara as a person and not an object to make him happy.
Towards the end, Aubrey tells David that he can’t rely on another person to fill a void. That’s profound, but the moment falls flat because Soulm8te doesn’t do a good job building up to it. Before the horror starts, there should have been more scenes of David being unsatisfied with Sara, despite being his “ideal woman.” Making it obvious that he’s the problem. There’s a little of that, but it could have been made clearer.
Roads Not Taken
Sara calls David out on his hypocrisy in a way that’s more than a little reminiscent of America Ferrera’s monologue (NSFW) in Barbie. Except, we’re supposed to view David as someone who’s messed up, but is ultimately a good guy. If you’re going to make a movie where we’re supposed to keep sympathizing with Bear Bailey-lite, then he needs to learn something at the end. Soulm8te, unfortunately, does not indicate that.
The rivalry between Sara and Aubrey starts an interesting discussion about womanhood. Sara is repeatedly making comments like Aubrey’s “legs aren’t even shaved, her hair’s greasy, and her skin is dry” while Sara’s “t**s will never sag, [her] hair will never grey, and [she] can enact any aberrant fantasy you want, and [she’d] never judge you for it.” However, this whole commentary on female rivalry and cool girls (NSFW) isn’t an avenue that the film really explores.
The closest it comes is when Aubrey says they don’t have to fight and Sara says, “Don’t try that girl-power s**t with me.” That’s a funny line. Unfortunately, the humor in Soulm8te is sorely lacking. It does not blend campiness and seriousness as well as M3GAN and M3GAN 2.0, the other films set in the universe, do.
Big Picture
That’s another thing about Soulm8te. I was seriously wondering when it’s supposed to take place in the M3GAN timeline. No one freaks out about the possibility of another killer robot running around as much as you’d think they would. That seems like lazy worldbuilding, unless they took out more direct references to the earlier films. Of course, that’s more of a minor problem in comparison to the film’s other issues.
Soulm8te raises a lot of interesting points about predatory businesses, AI, relationships, femininity, and contentment, but doesn’t do much with them beyond skimming the surface. However, Sullivan turns in a great performance, Rysdahl does what he’s supposed to, and Doumit is good, if underutilized. If you’re a M3GAN fan, you might want to consider checking this film out.
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