Rating: A-
It’s difficult not to view any movie about the ethics of robotics outside of an Isaac Asimov lens. His short stories and novels theorizing and pondering about the implications of robots on humanity are more than just formative; they’re defining. So much of what we think about when we think about robots has a direct route back to something he wrote decades ago.
I’m Your Man, a new German language film from director Maria Schrader (who also co-wrote alongside Jan Schomburg) makes no real secret of the debt it owes to Asimovian depictions of humans and robots. While it never explicitly calls out this influence, the film plays around in Asimov’s sandbox so freely that the distinction need not be stated outright.
In this case, however, it’s something like Asimov by way of Nora Ephron. I’m Your Man is framed as something of a classic romcom—a fact certainly helped by the presence of Dan Stevens, who plays the android in question, Tom—but, notably, one whose existence is predicated on the exploration of ethical and moral concerns over the prospect of a robotic future.
Maren Eggert stars as Alma, an anthropologist working on the final push of a project that just needs a bit more funding to complete. To receive the funding, she agrees to partake in a study for a colleague. For three weeks, she will live with a robot whose looks and personality are designed to meet her optimum emotional and physical desires. Tapped as an expert, her opinions on the ethics of human-robot romantic relationships will have huge consequences on the future to come.
Dumping Asimovian ideals into a pool of romcom tropes feels a bit weird at first, but Schrader is able to find the happy medium between stark philosophical musing and breezy comedic romance. As an anthropologist, Alma is uniquely situated to offer perspectives on the humanity of the project and its worth in pursuing. She’s also just getting over the dissolution of a relationship, making her well-suited to judge the concept of roboromance (robomance?).
The script evolves as a bit of a slow burn, keeping its secrets close as it unpacks the ethical and moral conundrums of human-machine pairing one by one. Eggert portrays Alma with a healthy restraint; her academic pursuits make her wary of the idea from the get go, but funding is funding so she’ll play along. Stevens, meanwhile, absolutely nails the role of Tom. Some of his movements recall Brent Spiner from Star Trek: The Next Generation—weirdly stilted but somehow still lifelike, head tilts that seem to indicate processing—while maintaining the naïve charm of a being who doesn’t quite understand what it means to be human.
Which, ultimately, is what I’m Your Man is about. Just as Asimov used robots as a kind of ethical mirror into humanity, Schrader explores what it means to be human and what it means to be alive through the lens of a romance. Rather than take audiences on a journey towards love, it asks them to ask themselves what love even is.
More and more futurists are predicting a world where robots are prevalent, and like it or not these are questions we should all start asking ourselves before its too late. Does sentience guarantee rights? Are robots autonomous beings? Can they feel? Can we?
That’s a quite a bit of philosophical work for a romcom to unpack, but I’m Your Man does so and does it enjoyably. The film never gets so bogged down by these concerns that it forgets to be charming and cute in the process. It’s the kind of film that a couple can see together and then spend several hours mulling over, not just for content but for substance as well. Those in search of something a bit headier for their date night will be well served seeking this out.
I’m Your Man is now playing in select theaters.
