Tweet
Review by Adam Courtliff
When a film gets unexpectedly pulled from its cinema release with no new date in sight before being dumped straight onto video on demand, it’s usually a safe bet that it’s going to be an unmitigated disaster. That is exactly what happened to Soulm8te, the much talked about M3GAN spin off. While it definitely isn’t great, it isn’t quite as bad as you might expect given its production woes and inability to find a replacement distributor.
The film follows David (David Rysdahl), a seemingly ordinary man dealing with the tragic loss of his wife and the accompanying grief and loneliness that comes with it. Looking for a new connection to give himself a fresh lease of life, an opportunity arises at his workplace, Ultima Robotics, for him to test a prototype of the company’s new AI robot soulmate.
After taking delivery of his new companion Sara (Lily Sullivan) and wanting the experience to feel more human, David rather foolishly begins using his company’s access to remove the safeguards in place and tamper with Sara’s code. It inevitably causes things to spiral out of control, made even worse by his growing relationship with co-worker Aubrey (Claudia Doumit).
If the premise sounds familiar, it’s because it is. It is remarkable just how similar Soulm8te is to last year’s Companion, only with almost every aspect done slightly worse. Because of the similarities between the two films, there’s an overwhelming feeling that if you’ve seen one then you’ve seen the other. The story remains highly predictable throughout. At no point does it veer away from what you’d expect to happen from virtually the opening scene. It doesn’t even really bother to throw any curveballs along the way.
Because of that, there’s a distinct lack of tension or any real stakes on offer. Even the moments that lean more into horror feel rather underwhelming, with the atmosphere remaining largely flat. There’s a sense that had this been released a few years ago immediately after M3GAN, it would’ve felt fresh, engaging and packed the same punch. Sadly, that simply isn’t the case.
It also feels like a huge missed opportunity to provide some meaningful social commentary on society’s growing reliance on AI and how more people are turning towards it for companionship rather than human interaction. It’s touched upon briefly in the opening sequence. After that, it becomes a narrative thread that’s never really explored, despite being something that could’ve at least helped the film carve out its own identity.
That’s not to say everything here is bad because it definitely isn’t. The production values in particular are of the standard you’d expect from a cinematic release rather than something sent straight to streaming. Some of the more brutal action moments are bound to make a few viewers squeamish. One particular sequence in the final act is enough to make toes curl. There are also some fun, stylish shots for good measure and despite a few shaky CGI moments, the visual effects are generally solid.
Lily Sullivan as Sara also delivers an exceptionally strong and enjoyable performance. The way she effortlessly captures the robotic nature of the emotions she is expressing and the tone of her voice is eerie and at times unsettling. It’s exactly how you would want it to be. In a way, it is very Sophie Thatcher-esque in Companion, which is perhaps the highest praise you could give.
While Soulm8te might not come close to reaching the heights of its soul sister M3GAN, it is far from the worst thing released this year. It undoubtedly treads very familiar ground without offering anything particularly fresh or all that compelling, but there are enough entertaining elements to stop it becoming a complete disaster. Whether it does enough to justify the lofty $20 price tag, however, is very much up for debate.
