Review of Uncanny (2015) by Katiki B — 27 Feb 2016

***Spoiler Alert*** Do not read until you see the film!

I believe the plot of Uncanny is driven by the universal biological imperative of reproduction. Let me explain. The character introduced as Adam, is a brilliant but autistic human individual. He sadly is incapable of living unassisted in the real world. His present situation in Warehouse 18 allows him to use, and for his boss to exploit, the superior parts of his brain.

The story asked the question: Who is more normal, the autistic human or the robot (introduced as David) who is programmed to believe HE is the normal human?

Autistic Adam knows his shortcomings and creates robot David without these shortcomings to the best of his ability. This was a sad and touching realization for me; especially given the harsh boss (Rainn) that provides him with his material needs.

So where does the reproductive imperative come in? Autistic Adam sees his chance when Joy comes into the picture. He tries to romance her so awkwardly that he quickly sees his disabilities will never allow them to be lovers. He can satisfy both his bosses directive to prove robot David's human perfection, and his own desire to procreate, by implanting his seed in David's new robo-member. I don't think Joy has figured this out yet, when she gets the obviously positive result on the pregnancy test during the surprise ending scene.

I loved this film, but it left me feeling melancholy as many good sci-fi stories do. The acting was wonderful accept for Rainn. my rating A-.