Dr. Vincent McCarthy (Toby Stephens) is trying to save his daughter from a rare degenerative condition by perfecting an artificial intelligence for the Ministry of Defense. When his partner, Ava (Caity Lotz), is killed, he uses her brain scan to make the leap from computer to consciousness, creating the perfect Machine (also Caity Lotz). But his boss, Thomson (Denis Lawson), doesn't want the Machine to be a person; he wants it to follow orders and kill people.
This does play a little like a full-length Black Mirror episode, but that may be just because of the accents. Lotz is doing a lot of work here while Stephens just kind of looks brooding and conflicted. Her physicality is a joy to watch, though.
The horror here comes less from "killer robot" and more from "government overreach" sectors, especially the use of armed service veterans with traumatic brain injuries as guinea pigs. That shit's just rude. The effects are decent, a lot of practical, with little touches like the reflective eyes to be unnerving but not over-the-top. CGI is not intrusive. All in all, not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.
The Machine is currently streaming on Shudder, which I get through Amazon.
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