I saw this back in October at Twin Cities Film Fest on the big screen. The main draw for me was Saoirse Ronan who rarely makes a wrong move in her career. The pairing of Ronan with her fellow Irish actor and current Hollywood ‘it boy’ Paul Mescal as a married couple is intriguing. Both of them are playing Americans here and their accents are quite convincing. At first glance, it reminds me of Ronan’s 2013 dystopian drama How I Live Now, but with quite a mind-bending twist in the end.

Writer/director Garth Davis adapted Iain Reid‘s second novel of the same name, set in 2065 somewhere in the American Midwest. Married couple Henrietta (Hen) and Junior live in a farmhouse that’s been in Junior’s family for generations. Surrounded by a dystopian wasteland, they only have each other to keep company, not even a house pet. The prologue tells us that cities are now overpopulated, rural areas are slowly abandoned, so new settlements are planned for outer space. Human Substitutes, that is AI with the capacity for consciousness are starting to replace human labor. That last bit is integral to the story, so you can pretty much guess what it’s all about.

One day, a stranger named Terence (Aaron Pierre) arrives with the ‘good news’ that Junior has been chosen for a pilot space program. He assures Junior that a droid in his likeness will keep Hen company as if that would actually make it easier for any husband to leave their wives. The slow pace can be quite mind-numbing even clocking under two hours, and those expecting a ton of sci-fi action will not find much of that here. But what you will find is astute, nuanced, emotional performances from the actors.

This is perhaps one of the most ‘grown-up’ performances from Ronan, amazing how the four-time Oscar has consistently delivered exceptional acting since she was first nominated at the age of 13 for Atonement. Mescal is quite impressive here as well, especially in the one heartbreaking scene towards the end.

It’s a testament to the talents of the trio actors that they manage to keep the film engaging. Ronan and Mescal ably convey a lot of emotion with few dialog and their love scenes are both passionate and sentimental. Tension keeps mounting as Terence proves quite intrusive in the way he embeds himself into the couple’s union with the mandatory tests and interviews. There’s a voyeuristic vibe in the way cinematographer Mátyás Erdély shoots the quiet, intimate scenes as if we’re witnessing something that ought to have been kept private.

This is the kind of film that can be quite frustrating as Davis decidedly keeps things cryptic and mysterious. It’s in the last half of the third act that things are finally coming together and I start to realize why the characters behave the way that they do. It also becomes clear what the title is referring to and that realization gives me goosebumps.

On the whole, I appreciate FOE despite its flaws. Films in which androids develop emotion and become more empathetic than humans are nothing new, but they can still be memorable when done right. I’ve always enjoyed futuristic sci-fi films that aren’t all about the cutting-edge set pieces/gadgetry and space action, and FOE functions like a character-driven drama. If you like the cast, I recommend you seek this one out, it’s got enough going for it that just might pleasantly surprise you.

FOE is currently streaming on Amazon Prime

Have you seen FOE? Let me know what you think!

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