Timothy Glaraton
Since the very beginning, horror and social commentary have gone hand in hand. Think Dracula’s commentary on the Victorian-era anxieties of immigration and more liberal sexuality, Get Out’s multiple layers of the terrors still faced every day by Black Americans, or just about the entire filmography of George Romero. Motion Detected, the directorial debut from Justin Gallaher and Sam Roseme, looks to continue in that tradition, weaving a tense psychological thriller about trauma together with commentary on the ever-increasing presence of AI and smart technology in our lives.
Motion Detected follows Eva and her husband as they relocate from Mexico City to Los Angeles following a home invasion that has left her traumatized. When her husband has to fly back to Mexico City, Eva is left alone in her home—except for a state-of-the-art home security system equipped with everything from motion detectors to deployable security gates to projectable holograms. This security system is managed by what a security expert describes to her as a basic AI that will study her movements and behaviors—already a sinister thought, and one that turns into full-on terror when her neighbor warns her to leave her home and that “they’re listening.”
Motion Detected is framed as a home invasion-style thriller, but with the added layers of not only a less-than-helpful AI, but the psychological layer of Eva’s trauma and the flashbacks that come with it. Between the chance of her having hallucinations and the lifelike holograms the AI is capable of projecting, the whole trailer has a sense of uncertainty as to what, if anything, is actually happening in Eva’s home.
Between the psychological layer of Eva’s trauma, the terror of a home invasion, and the potential for rich commentary on smart technology and our overreliance on AI and smart technology, Motion Detected is shaping up to be a unique, intense piece of horror that is right up my alley. I can’t wait to watch it for myself and see if it lives up to the high expectations set by this first trailer.
Motion Detected will be available on VOD May 19th.
