Overview
- The feature debut from artist-filmmaker Alex Prager premiered in SXSW’s Narrative Spotlight, running 1 hour 23 minutes.
- Set in a near-future of unbreathable air and virtual living, the story follows a woman who tries a wellness therapy called DreamQuil and returns to find a compliant stand-in running her home.
- Critics from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety praise the saturated retro-futurist design and craft, noting the film’s bold production choices and playful Stepford Wives inflections.
- Reviews fault the movie’s emotional engagement and argue its many ideas—AI, predatory wellness, data mining, feminism and environmental dread—don’t cohere into a sharper satire.
- Filmmaker Magazine’s interview confirms Elizabeth Banks plays both the lead Carol and an AI counterpart, despite earlier reporting that credited the household robot to Anna Marie Dobbins, with both outlets singling out Banks and John C. Reilly for strong performances.