VOD of the Dead - WIFELIKE (2022)
One doesn’t have to look farther than their social media feed to see that we are living through some turbulent cultural times. Here in the US, a woman’s right to bodily autonomy has been stripped away and across the world, the tug-o-war that is gender equality pulls in both a progressive and regressive direction. Faith in institutions is being challenged, rightly and wrongly, and trust in tech is dropping as our data fuels engorged stock prices. The argument that entertainment reflects society works both ways, and some of the best pieces of sci-fi and horror are byproducts of our collective fears. Films like HEREDITARY and RELIC reflect the Global mental health crisis just like THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN spoke to generational divides and the declining membership in the Catholic Church in ‘Merica. The point of this political preamble is to tee up 2022’s WIFELIKE. The PARAMOUNT PICTURES sci-fi/thriller asks big questions about gender roles and the weaponization of tech to serve nefarious purposes, but does it deliver satisfactory answers?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A grieving detective in the near future hunts down criminals who trade artificial humans on the black market. In the fight to end AI exploitation, an underground resistance attempts to infiltrate him by sabotaging the programming of the artificial human assigned as his companion to behave like his late wife. She begins to question her reality as memories of a past life begin to surface in a world where nothing is as it seems.
HOW IS IT?
The term “good bones” in regards to real estate implies that while some property may not look nice, it has a solid foundation. That’s in a metaphor is WIFELIKE. A slick, corny, intriguing, frustrating, and ambitious film that has a great story that is bogged down by too much exposition and tonal issues. Let’s start with the good though. The core of the narrative sets up a scenario where women are being sold as subservient and sexualized housewives to rich and lonely men. In some ways, it reminds you of EX-MACHINA until it goes totally I, ROBOT. There are so many underlying themes that are touched on mostly at a surface level like the role of technology in enforcing patriarchal gender roles and the paranoia associated with the “loss of control” men have over women. The thing is, the depth is at best a foot in the water and the film prioritizes more exploitative elements over subtlety.
Part of what makes WIFELIKE tonally confusing is that in parts it plays out like an unedited episode of USA UP ALL NIGHT, and then infuses existential questions that seldom get answered. This is part of what makes WIFELIKE somewhat frustrating, it is trying to do so much it ends up not doing half of it great. Take Meredith the “WifeLike” in the story. It’s intriguing how William has to program her through a series of questions and preferences, but there is no consistency around what he has and doesn’t have to make her aware of and the implications of it. Because the story branches off in so many other directions it takes away from some of the interesting elements that get left behind. I don’t always believe in pulling back in high-concept films like these, and in this case, more focus would have made the film more potent.
This is not to say that WIFELIKE is boring and to its credit, the 105-minute film only lost my attention for a few minutes here and there. The performances are solid all around and while the production doesn’t have the same budget as a wider release it doesn’t distract from the wonderful production design and electro-soundtrack. There are stylistic elements that portray a future similar to the one in DEMOLITION MAN just with more sexism and less Taco Bell, and I can’t be sure if there are any seashells required for wiping.
LAST RITES
WIFELIKE is a film with great potential and murky focus that despite its flaws is still better than average. While it doesn’t answer the deep questions under the surface, it is an entertaining sci-fi story with the spirit of a late-night cable erotic thriller.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
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Where can you watch it?
SP Media Group and Paramount Home Entertainment's WIFELIKE is in select theaters and available On Digital NOW!
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