Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a sci-fi, mystery, drama
film from 2019, titled I Am Mother. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care. In a repopulation facility, 1 day after the
event that caused humanity's extinction, there are 63 thousand embryos and no human occupants
yet. The Mother robot, whose main mission is to
raise the new human population, is getting ready to raise the first human being after
the event. She opens the canisters containing the embryos,
takes out the first one, and places it in a gestation chamber. The embryo will gestate into a baby in just
24 hours within the artificial womb. Mother waits patiently, as bombs are heard
outside of the facility. Once the fetus has developed into a baby,
Mother can begin raising the child into a human. The next sequence of the film shows the full
developmental stage of the child. Baby is seen taking its first steps, laughing
and crying, running around and playing, all under the watchful eye of Mother. Baby turns little girl in no time and can
be seen making origami animals with Mother, dancing ballet, and putting stickers on the
robot. One day, the child asks Mother why there aren't
any more children there and Mother takes her to the embryo room to show her the rest of
her siblings. 13867 days after the event, the repopulation
facility now has one occupant. Daughter is already a teenager. She wakes and watches some videos on her tablet
while having breakfast. Mother comes in and her hand starts to glitch
so Daughter insists to take a look at it. Daughter fixes Mother's glitching hand without
a problem. Later, Daughter gets a little carried away
in her ballet practice and is late for her ethics class with Mother. The robot asks her to solve a difficult hypothetical
situation, but the girl is distracted by her thoughts. When she eventually has a discussion with
Mother on the subject, it becomes apparent that Mother's main focus in her education
is the concept of humanity and survival. Mother is worried about the way she answers
this particular question because Daughter has an important exam coming up soon that
would reveal the efficacy of her upbringing. That night, Daughter has some difficulty sleeping
so she watches some videos until there is a power outage in the facility. She goes looking for Mother, but soon realizes
that she's out of power too. Then, Daughter finds a broken power line and
hears a mouse running around. She sets a trap and manages to fix the problem
with the power. While she waits for the power to fully come
back, Daughter catches the mouse. As soon as the power comes on so does Mother. She finds Daughter and the girl shows her
the mouse. The little critter worries Mother because
it might mean that there is a breach in the airlock of the facility. That would mean the contagion from the air
outside might leak inside and the mouse might be a carrier too. Despite Daughter's protest, Mother incinerates
the mouse, explaining how dangerous contamination of the facility might be, not just to her,
but the embryos as well. Mother also decontaminates the airlock and
quarantines the area. A few days later, they celebrate Daughter's
birthday and Mother gives her a gift. During Daughter's birthday dinner, she asks
Mother if there is a possibility that she is wrong about the habitability of the planet. The robot simply reminds her that she hasn't
been wrong about anything so far. The same night, Daughter hears something coming
from the direction of the airlock. She goes to check and when she doesn't see
anything through the first hatch, Daughter puts on a protective suit. She hears something outside again and, despite
her better judgment, takes off the mask and opens the first hatch. Daughter gets close to the other hatch when
she hears a woman screaming for help, saying she's been shot. Daughter quickly gets another suit, places
it in the airlock and when she's safely out, she opens it. Suddenly, an alarm goes off, waking Mother
as well. The woman enters the airlock and Daughter
tells her to put on the suit, then the woman begs her not to tell Mother. Daughter agrees and when the robot arrives
she says that she opened the hatch for just a second. Mother scolds her and as a form of punishment,
decides to give her the important exam at that instant. In the next shot, both are at the classroom
and Mother is giving Daughter the exam, with an hour to complete it, while she tends to
other things. As soon as Mother leaves, Daughter goes back
to the airlock, finding the woman unconscious. She shuffles through her bag, finds a gun
which she tucks away, and wakes her up. Daughter tells her that she'll give her all
the medicine she needs, but that they can't stay there. The woman sees the water and goes to take
off her mask, telling Daughter that she's been lied to about the contagion. Daughter manages to hide her away in another
part of the facility, before Mother returns to the airlock, and leaves the woman there
to get the medicine. While she puts everything that she needs from
the infirmary together, Mother finds the mask near the airlock. Daughter breaks one of the medicine bottles
and cuts herself on it when she hears Mother passing by. The woman takes out the rest of the suit and
sees Mother burning the mask in the incinerator, freaking out and searching for her gun. When Daughter comes back, the woman sneaks
up on her and asks for her gun, telling her about the droid she saw. Daughter says that it's Mother, but the woman
tells her that droids like her Mother were the ones to hurt her. Meanwhile, Mother notices that Daughter isn't
taking her exam and comes looking for her. The woman hears her coming, grabs the gun
and when Daughter screams for the robot, she grabs her too. Mother sprints toward them and as soon as
she enters the room, the woman shoots her. Before she can do any serious damage, however,
Mother gets to her and incapacitates her instantly. Daughter begs her not to kill the woman and
tells her that she needs their help because she's hurt. Mother doesn't have a problem helping the
woman, but she does have a problem with Daughter lying to her. They take her to the infirmary, but Mother
makes Daughter wait outside. Because Daughter can't hear anything from
the infirmary, Mother is free to interrogate the woman freely while she treats her. The woman refuses the penicillin for her wound,
as Mother keeps conversing. She says the contagion story was a necessary
lie to guard Daughter against certain things. Mother tells the woman that her primary objective
is to take care of humanity, but if she refuses treatment for her wound, Mother can't do anything
to make her take it. She leaves the infirmary with Daughter running
after her and asking about their conversation. Mother puts the gun away and explains her
version of the story about the droids. She tells Daughter why she needed to lie to
her to protect her from the dangers outside of the facility. Furthermore, she says that the parameters
that govern her are different than those of the droids outside. Daughter has a hard time processing the new
information, but still believes Mother who tells her that if the woman would have shot
her a few millimeters further, she would have destroyed her CPU. As Mother tends to Daughter's hand-wound,
she asks her if the woman mentioned any other survivors which they can help as well with
her cooperation. Daughter thinks that the woman might listen
to her more than she would Mother. Later, she goes through her bag, and among
a bunch of trinkets, she finds a book with portraits drawn in it. Daughter flips through the portrait book and
finds one particularly interesting. She goes to the infirmary to talk to the woman
and asks her about the people. The woman's suspicion of Mother can be felt
in her conversation with Daughter too, thinking that it told her to go through her stuff and
question her. She's not wrong, Mother did manipulate the
girl into doing that actually, Daughter was just curious about the woman to be susceptible
to that manipulation. Daughter, stands her ground defending Mother,
when the woman tells her about all the horrible things that the droids have done. After the talk with the woman, Daughter finds
Mother repairing herself. She apologizes to her for letting the woman
in without thinking of the consequences. As always, Mother is full of understanding
and allows her to ask all the questions about the similarities between her and the other
droids. Daughter's questions feel like jabs, but Mother
still dodges all of them and manages to learn a few things from Daughter in return. Lastly, Daughter tells Mother that the woman
is getting worse. They both go to see her and Mother tells the
woman that she waited too long to take the penicillin, so now she would need to get surgery,
or otherwise, her infection will get worse. The woman refuses to let Mother touch her
and Daughter volunteers to perform the surgery instead. Next, Daughter can be seen checking the wound
and telling Mother where the bullet is lodged in the woman's body. She thinks that the best way to pull the bullet
out would be to drill in it and take it out that way. However, the woman refuses anesthesia which
would make it insanely painful for her. She can barely even make it through Daughter
cleaning her wound. The woman turns her head as Daughter goes
in with the drill subsequently, calmly performing the procedure and taking out the bullet. After that, she loses her nerve and vomits. Later, Daughter waits for the woman to wake
up because she passed out from the pain. When she does, Daughter explains that her
IV is a saline solution and calms her a little. She gives the woman some food which she practically
devours, and then thanks to the girl for what she did for her. They continue to talk and bond, as Mother
observes them from afar. The next day, Daughter is still in the infirmary
next to the woman. The woman is looking through the portraits
and Daughter sees it as an opportunity to tell her that they can house the survivors
in the facility if she shares with them where they are. She trusts the girl, but not the droid, and
tells her that whatever she shares about the people, Daughter must keep a secret. When the girl agrees, the woman tells her
about the camp in the mines where she spent most of her life. Then she tells her that she got to the facility
escaping from the droids that killed her stepbrother. She shows Daughter his and his wife's portraits
in her book and tells her that his parents raised her as their own when she was orphaned. Daughter asks about the portrait of the boy
she saw before and the woman tells her that he's about her age. The girl keeps insisting that they should
bring the survivors there, but the woman gives her the alternative to join her and the others
in the mines where it's safer. Mother interrupts their conversation and tells
Daughter that the woman needs to rest while she needs to do her exam. As the two of them leave the infirmary, Mother
tells her that the bullet fired in her chest matches the one Daughter extracted from the
woman's wound. Droids don't use the same type of gun, so
Mother implies that another human might have shot the woman, possibly with good reason. Daughter is worried by that information but
still doesn't share the woman's secret. The important exam that Daughter takes is
constructed around psychological and ethical questions, checking her judgment and empathy
levels alike. Meanwhile, Mother goes through the woman's
things and activates a locator that she will return in the bag. The two last aspects of the exam are the physical
and medical. Once complete, Mother tells Daughter that
her results are better than ever. As a reward she lets her pick an embryo from
the lot and finally have a sibling as she has always wanted. Mother commends her for being patient over
the years and demonstrating great character. Daughter chooses a male embryo and puts it
in the gestation chamber, which sets the timer for 24 hours until the baby is fully formed. Mother and Daughter have a nice moment together. The woman makes a weapon when Daughter comes
to the infirmary to confront her. The woman instantly makes her doubt Mother's
story about the bullet, convincing her to check for herself. So, later that night, Daughter takes Mother's
broken hand and uses it to open the cabinets where the bullets are kept. Making the side-by-side comparison, Daughter
notices that the bullets are of completely different size and that Mother lied to her. While still in the storage room, she finds
a drawer with no label on it. Inside, she finds documents labeled for embryo
number 2. Daughter checks the embryo containers and
realizes that she wasn't the first, but the third child that came out of that lot. The documents state that the subject was a
failure, but the child in the photo looks like Daughter when she was younger. Daughter also checks the incinerator for human
remains and finds a human jaw bone between the ash. The document has the subject as aborted. All of this information breaks Daughter's
world apart and she goes to talk to the woman again, admitting that she was right about
everything. The woman tells Daughter that everything she
feels is natural and human, unlike Mother who feels nothing for her because she can't. That prompts Daughter to ask how long it would
take them to get to the mines, for she has made up her mind that she will go with her
there. However, the girl wants to wait for her brother
to gestate fully so she can take him as well. She's not afraid only about leaving him with
Mother, but the others as well. The woman tells her that they can leave and
get help from the people of the mines, though Daughter is adamant about taking her brother
with her. They will wait for him, then come back for
the others later. The next day, Daughter packs the supplies
for their journey when Mother catches her doing it. She lies to her that she's taking the stuff
to spend some time with her brother, so Mother takes her to the kitchen to show her how to
mix his formula. Daughter gets anxious standing next to Mother,
who comforts her by saying that she will make a great sister. Then, she exits the kitchen and locks Daughter
in because she knows what she's planning. Mother goes to the infirmary to confront the
woman while Daughter tries to get herself out of the kitchen. The girl quickly figures out to use a type
of gas to freeze the glass and then break it. In the meantime, Mother plays a recording
of the woman's conversation with Daughter, letting her know that she's aware of their
plan. Mother doesn't want Daughter to have a miserable
life like the woman and won't let her go. Suddenly, the woman sees an opportunity to
attack her and manages to incapacitate the droid for a moment, but she just keeps on
going, grabbing her by the throat. Meanwhile, Daughter thinks to activate the
fire alarm, which draws Mother's attention and she releases the woman from her grip. As the droid goes to investigate the possibility
of a fire, the woman escapes and finds Daughter in the maze of the facility. She convinces the girl that they will come
back for the others if they escape the facility now and get the people from the mine to help
them. They get to the airlock, but Mother finds
them there fast. When she sees her approaching, the woman grabs
Daughter as a hostage to make Mother open the door. With no intention of getting Daughter hurt,
Mother complies with her demand, and the two of them escape the facility finally. Suddenly, Daughter is confronted with the
realities of life outside and attacks the woman. She subdues her and tells Daughter that they
need to find cover. As they walk toward their destination they
immediately get tracked down by the droids, though they hide in the cornfield to stop
them from following. Daughter asks the woman about the cornfield
and she tells her that it showed up with the other droid 6 months prior. Before that, humans could hardly breathe the
air. After a long journey through the desolate
landscape, they arrive on a beach with a massive shipwreck and tons of cargo containers. It's Daughter's first time seeing the ocean. She doesn't take long to understand that the
woman actually lives in one of the containers with a dog. The woman confesses that she fled the mines
years before because the people that lived there began treating each other terribly when
the hunger struck. She tells Daughter that there is no hope in
finding them because they've all gone mad. Daughter gets struck by the doom of the woman's
life outside and feels terrible for leaving her brother behind. Even with the woman doing her best to convince
her to stay, Daughter eventually leaves her behind and goes back to the facility by herself. When she arrives before the facility, the
droids guarding it aim their weapons directly in her heart. However, when Daughter demands to speak to
Mother, they let her pass without a problem. The door opens for her to enter and she immediately
disables it, to stop the droids from coming inside. Daughter grabs an ax and starts looking for
Mother, when she hears he brother crying and Mother telling her that she's glad for having
her safe at home. When the girl peeks at Mother and the child
she decides that she wants to see him up close. Mother tells her to come closer but leave
the ax behind. As Mother explains her purpose and the purpose
of the facility, Daughter keeps dropping her guard. The droid tells her that her objective was
to make a better human, superior to the ones that dstroyed the planet as well as themselves. Even though she was the one to ultimately
create the extinction vent, Mother did it all to elevate her human creators to a higher
level. eDaughter asks to hold her brother and approaches
Mother, then finally drops the ax, as if she's made her decision about what needs to be done
for the future. Mother calls him perfect and Daughter confronts
her about the way she handled the other children before her. The droid tells her that she's holding the
baby too tight and walks toward her when Daughter flees the room trapping Mother with the door. She goes into the other room and gets the
gun, as the other droids begin breaking down the airlock. Mother tries to free herself from the door
as well, when Daughter shows up in front of her with the gun, telling her to call the
others off. The droid explains that there is no difference
between her and the other droids and machines on the planet. They are all Mother, a single consciousness
with numerous bodies. Daughter lowers her gun, realizing that Mother
did kill all the other people. Mother gives her the option to either stay
with her and raise her brother or leave the facility without him. Daughter gives her the third alternative,
which is for her to take care of him herself, to do what she was raised to do. Daughter asks Mother for a chance to show
her what she is capable of and the droids stop breaking down the airlock. Mother tells Daughter how to disable her she
shoots her CPU, after saying that she won't need her anymore. Daughter breaks down and cries, carrying the
whole of humanity on her back. Simultaneously, the woman finds the tracker
in her bag, and Mother shows up at her home in the body of one of her droids. She tells the woman that she has fulfilled
her purpose, implying that she was one of the babies born before Daughter. In the last moment of the film, Daughter is
seen singing to her brother and then checking on the rest of her siblings in the embryo
room.
