The Wasteland Reviewer

Afraid (2024) Written Review

 Wait…we are getting another horror film about artificial intelligence? AI in horror is certainly a growing subgenre because it is becoming such a large part of the human experience in today’s world. The more we rely on technology, the more advanced it becomes and the more it takes over what we do. It is not a horror film (or maybe a little depending on your perspective) but Wall-E captured what full reliance on technology can look like. But a life as a giant doughy baby with screens in your face 100% of the time sounds like a complete nightmare. But Blumhouse is serving up a new horror film from writer/director Chris Weitz called Afraid…or AfrAId. Haha…you get it? 

Does this new film have anything new to offer in terms of commentary on artificial intelligence? In short…no. This film is an awkward, blunt, and shallow mess. For a film that is only 84-minutes, it attempts to cram as many ideas and scenarios into as possible. Resurrecting dead relatives, swatting, deep fake porn, and more! But the problem is that none of these big topics (which could be fleshed out into whole stories) are given the time to breathe and fleshed out at all. This feels like a choppy and overly edited mess. Where the film goes becomes more absurd and completely unbelievable. The logic flies out the window and by the end of the film, there is a huge reveal that feels like it should have been the film in the first place. But the question is…does this make enough money to get that sequel? The jury is out on that one. 

Is this film even scary? Not really. There are fleeting moments that feel inspired with creepy reflections where you must pay attention. They are legitimately unnerving and effective. But those make up only a couple of moments in the film that leans up jump scares, dreams, and “atmosphere” for the rest of the scares. When it comes to the atmosphere, Weitz struggles to build any real tension, and everything feels quite flat. The film is alluding to something supernatural or more creative than what the film turns out to be which is quite disappointing as well. There is never enough time for anything in the film to breathe and expand, leaving this a rushed and wobbly experience. 

Can the cast really salvage any of this? What is most frustrating is that there are some talented actors here, but the dialogue is so bad and unbelievable that it makes it difficult to buy into their performances. You wouldn’t be surprised to find out this was written by AI. John Cho tries his best to anchor the film but there is no emotional depth allotted to his character at all. Katherine Waterston at least gets a big emotional moment and sells it like she can. Young talents like Havana Rose Liu and Lukita Maxwell are bogged down with awkward dialogue or lack of depth. Keith Carradine and David Dastmalchian are caricatures and at least their presence makes the most of their limited material. Then there are a few unconvincing child performances, but they were set up to fail with this script. 

Does Afraid stand up in a busy world of AI infused horror films? Not at all. This just might be one of the most poorly written ones in recent memory. Talented actors wasted. Big ideas and sensitive issues rushed. The greatest sin that Afraid has committed is being a horror film that is not scary and a film about AI with nothing significant to add to the conversation.