Wendy Ide 

Blank review – eye-poppingly effective AI thriller

An author gripped by writer’s block is at the mercy of a malfunctioning robot in this smart low-budget feature
  
  

Heida Reed closeup in Blank.
‘A creepily effective physicality’: Heida Reed as the android helper in Blank. Alamy Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

The latest addition to the malevolent, malfunctioning AI genre (see also M3gan), this British sci-fi follows novelist Claire (Rachel Shelley) as she tackles her writer’s block by spending a month in a hi-tech creative retreat. Her every need is catered for by Rita (Heida Reed, bringing a creepily effective physicality to the role), a glassy-eyed android helper. A technical glitch rewrites Rita’s programming and the robot helper becomes Claire’s prison warder and her sternest critic. Rita, as she repeatedly informs us, is equipped to deal with “all kinds of medical emergencies”. You can bet that’s a skill that will come in handy before the end of this smart little thriller.

Watch a trailer for Blank.
 

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