Hilary Swank’s Most Underrated Role Is in This Bold Netflix Cyberpunk Thriller – Collider

The Big Picture

The further into the 21st century we get, the more common topical plot lines involving sentient artificial intelligence will become. Filmmakers must bring something unique to the screen to stand out from the pack. Fortunately for director Grant Sputore, he has a unique story to tell in 2019's I Am Mother and a fantastic cast of talented actors to tell it. Currently available on Netflix, the futuristic, dystopian science fiction thriller film stars Hilary Swank, Clara Rugaard, and the voice talent of Rose Byrne as "Mother." When a near-extinction level event almost eliminates humanity, Daughter (Rugaard) is safe in a hidden bunker and raised by a "Mother," a highly sophisticated AI being that has reared her since birth. When Swank's character, credited simply as "Woman," arrives on the scene, the perfect ecosystem established between Mother and Daughter is turned on its head, and Daughter is challenged to make some tough decisions for the first time. But it'sSwank who shines in the role of a mysterious drifter, using the deliberate pacing of the film to her advantage to heighten the carefully designed tension.

Expand

It has been approximately five years since almost all of humankind was wiped out after an extinction event. A sentient, robotic AI race is in the process of terraforming Earth to be repopulated by humans raised and taught by units known as "Mothers." We are introduced to the Daughter as a young girl going through her daily life under the care and tutelage of her AI Mother. She is in a sleek, futuristic bunker facility, and the dynamic between Daughter and Mother is very simple. When Woman (Swank) shows up pounding on the bunker door pleading for help with a severe injury, Daughter is reticent about allowing her in but does it anyway. Now a teenager, Daughter is naturally curious about the mercurial stranger, as her life up to this point has been a daily regimen of study and little else. Seeing another human being piques her interest in what is happening outside the bunker, and she begins to challenge the AI Mother, wanting to know more about the plight of humanity. Until the Woman arrives, the robot has been neutral and friendly in her programming, but as her authority is challenged more and more by Daughter and the Woman, a more sinister side of the AI Mother will present itself. It is far creepier with the soft and smooth dulcet of Rose Byrne voicing Mother.

The way Swank dazzles as Woman in I Am Mother, the question needs to be asked: Why hasn't she done more science fiction films? The two-time Oscar winner for Best Actress has proven her dramatic bona fides with unforgettable turns in movies like Boys Don't Cry, Million Dollar Baby, and the underseen and underappreciated Ordinary Angels. So why is there a shortage in the "little green men" genre in her extensive filmography? Whatever the case, her inimitable style and patience as a performer are on full display in I Am Mother and translate seamlessly. The first act of I Am Mother is a slow burn, but after a desperate and dying Swank arrives at the facility, she is masterful at letting the story come to her. She is tight-lipped and confused but also doesn't want to reveal too much about herself or where she comes from because, unlike Daughter, she has been living in the outside world and knows what this race of robots is capable of. Her lack of dialogue means she has to be even more expressive in her facial movements and mannerisms to communicate her emotions effectively. But by the time the movie's final act arrives, Swank also shows the physicality and badassery we have grown accustomed to seeing from her in her best turns on the big screen.

Sometimes, working with child actors can make it difficult to establish a solid rapport. That is not the case with Swank and Rugaard in I Am Mother. From the moment the Woman arrives at the bunker, she and her Daughter play off each other craftily. Credit the young Rugaard, who shows she is a special talent. Both actors have an Ellen Ripley-esque quality to them. Still, Swank's work allows the pair to establish such a believable and compelling dynamic. She takes the lead and deftly steers the relationship as a veteran performer, as she should. By the time they learn to trust one another and work in unison to escape the facility and extreme control of the sentient Mother robot, Swank is firmly in control of the film, bringing the humanity and beating heart of the story to life, even as they are scrapping tooth and nail to survive a droid that is intent on maintaining its deceptive directive of retaining authority over the Daughter, Woman, and her harvested group of hundreds of human embryos. As the Woman, Swank is very convincing in making the Daughter believe that she would be safer with her own kind back in the abandoned mines where she came from. However, the question burning throughout I Am Mother is whether Daughter can trust either of these maternal figures.

Hilary Swank is always at her best when she plays a character you want to root for and see succeed, like in her Academy Award-winning roles as a prizefighter and non-binary individual. I Am Mother is a little more nuanced in its layered plot and character development, but as the Woman, it is still a role that you can get the pom poms out and enjoy. Director Grant Sputore establishes the Mother's ability to be duplicitous and evil early in the film. Still, the extreme lengths she will go to in the end to secure her directive delivers a twist you couldn't possibly see coming. If the Woman turned out to be the biological mother of the Daughter, that would have been one hell of a curveball. Still, the surprise that is saved for the film's penultimate scene and Swank's character at the beach is nonetheless a lovely trick Sputore deftly delivers based on the story he wrote and adapted for the big screen.

I Am Mother is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

WATCH ON NETFLIX

Read the original post:

Hilary Swank's Most Underrated Role Is in This Bold Netflix Cyberpunk Thriller - Collider