InSubservience, Alice, an artificial intelligence android, is programmed to for domestic abilities, taking care of a home and family. A struggling father purchases Alice to help with the housework and care for his children when his wife becomes sick. When Alice becomes self-aware, she wants to take everything her new family has to offer, no matter who has to die.
Megan Foxstars as Alice reteaming withTill Deathdirector S.K. Dale to lead the movie. Subservience is a tension-filled thriller that explores the modern-day horror of artificial intelligence replacing a person. This issue has never been more of a hot-button topic, with artificial intelligence becoming more and more prominent throughout the modern world and a common question at the center of many horror movies,includingM3gan.
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Screen Rantinterviewed director S.K. Dale about his newAI horror sci-fi movie,Subservience. He explained how this movie opened his eyes to the reality of AI and how it could fit into the reality of the modern world. Dale also shared how Fox approached playing an android and revealed what element of the script spoke to him.
Megan Fox Wanted Alice’s “Movements [To Be] Like A Ballerina”
“Really leaning into that element and as we were developing the script, we explored that avenue more.”
Fantastic job on this film. Man, it was quite eye-opening and I feel like some of our worst fears with AI can already be here and this film kind of addresses that. Now you mentioned the inspiration for this film came from you witnessing the bond between your newborn child and their mother. How did this personal experience shape the emotional core of the film?
S.K. Dale: It’s interesting. It was actually more we’ve had the child after the film was done, so it was actually more retrospect of that that I was kind of like, Oh wow, we really kind of were hitting on certain elements. But I think leading up to that process we were trying and looking at just educating ourselves on what was to come next and this idea of that bond between a mother and their child.
I really fell in love personally with the script when the mother comes back home and she feels like she’s lost that bond and someone else has kind of replaced her. I thought, to me, that’s the core here. That’s where the emotion I want to focus on. And so really leaning into that element and as we were developing the script, we explored that avenue more and really opened it up to have these two women collide by the third act, which excited me.
Now Megan Fox gives a bone-chilling performance as Alice in this film. She is perfect in this role. Can you talk to me about developing the character along with Megan and how she brought that AI-ness to life, I guess, in the character Alice?
S.K. Dale: Well, I think, we’d worked together once before, so I kind of knew some of her strengths in this and when we were developing the role, she was definitely coming to mind and we thought this could be really something exciting to explore with her. Once she came on board, she really spoke about this idea of her movements being like a ballerina, slow but precise, her posture and everything like that being upright and so we really explored that aspect to it.
But it is this out of everything in this film her performance was kind of the most vital to make everything work. We had a fine line between playing this robotic inhuman character but also needing enough emotion that when we get to more intimate scenes, the audience buys it, not just buys it, but is there with our protagonist within those moments.
So it was this interesting where can we lean into it and lean into the emotion and lean into the robotic side of things? And then as her character further unfolds towards the end, then we got to really play with some glitching elements and yeah, that was an exciting day on set when we were kind of playing with those elements.
She is terrifying when she kind of glitches out. Wow. Amazing performance. Now this film delves into the themes of AI replacing human roles. Can you elaborate on your approach to portraying the fears and complexities of these potential futures?
S.K. Dale: Yeah, it is quite interesting because after production, as we were in post production that’s when all those strikes were happening and we’re kind of fighting for our human rights against AI. And so it was really kind of a scary time where we realized this isn’t a film for the future. This is happening right now around us.
It’s one of the aspects I really like of the film is when we go to his job and see people getting replaced and that physical role being replaced by these robots. I think as when we were developing the script, I didn’t really think of creativity as a threat with AI coming out of that film and seeing chatgbt and seeing where we are developing that, it is kind of scary.
I do have faith that it will kind of push our film industry to be more creative and try things that are more exciting so that way we don’t have cookie cutter style films created by AI. I think that human aspect to it, to kind of try different things and unique things, we’ll kind of thrive out of this is my hope. But at the same time you are wondering how long do I have left before I get replaced?
S.K. Dale Reveals How Subservience Approaches Real-Life Concerns About Artificial Intelligence
“My biggest concern of [AI] is really the human urge to be creative.”
Actually, that leads right into this next question because I feel that the world of Subservience is in the midst of this AI revolution. How do you imagine, imagine the world kind of using AI and what real-life technological advancements do you think can be implemented in the world of film?
S.K. Dale: It’s interesting. We did a lot of research through AI and everything. I think that there’s certain elements that I think AI is great with and especially within the medical world and stuff like that and being able to analyze that and we kind of do dabble in these kind of robotic surgeons that are very precise and everything like that. But look, you look now we have robotic arms, they’re controlled by humans and stuff like that, but they’re able to kind of do things at a much more precise level.
I feel like, I know this is so scary for people, but as we get into more automated cars, I am so excited by the idea of traffic jams disappearing with AI, being able to handle this. My frustration with drivers going slow or turning and doing something wrong where you’re kind of like AI could really, really manage this in a way. Even just traffic lights in general. You feel like you hit every red one down the track.
I’m just kind of voicing my anger towards traffic right now, but there are certain elements that I think could be really benefited through AI. My biggest concern of it is really the human urge to be creative. I don’t want that to be extinguished. I think painting or doing these things, especially as you see children doing it with crayons and all this kind of stuff. There is something in there that we are kind of adding fuel to that fire. I’m worried that as we rely more on this technology for creativity, that we will start to lose a piece of our soul.
I feel like after watching this film, it really is one of those films that makes you think about the AI that’s already here. It makes you think about what’s coming next. What do you hope audiences take away from watching Subservience, especially in terms of reflecting on our current relationship with AI and technology?
S.K. Dale: Yeah, I think one thing we do that I hadn’t really seen done a whole lot was explore the intimate aspect between a relationship with what AI could potentially do and could it be harmful, could it not be? I do think that there is this evolution over the last 50 years where technology is actually coming into our lives more intimately and it’s kind of happening at such a pace that we don’t really ever stop and think about it, but that urge to connect with another human is there.
I think thinking about things on that level is quite interesting. Not only that, just having a robot come into the house, coming to do the cleaning, the shopping, whatever it is, looking after a child and everything like that. I think that’s a really fascinating element because we wanted to explore the positive aspects of it early on and then also explore the negative aspects as the mother’s coming back and she feels that she’s being replaced and that urge for her to connect with her own child is being threatened.
I want to expand on that a little bit because that’s one of the major themes in the film. I know that when children are first-born, they’re almost like an extension of their mother. In this situation, we find a mother returning home to find herself replaced by AI. Can you talk about how that theme was explored throughout the film?
S.K. Dale: Yeah, I think once we came across that within the script, Will and April, the writers of the script, they had done an incredible job creating these characters and getting up to that moment. For me, I wanted to lean more into that relationship and more into those two women kind of butting heads as they’re fighting for, she’s fighting for her position.
It was something that really, I feel like the emotion there, and I think Maggie, that character, the mother, I was always fascinated by her the way she kind of sneaks into the script but kind of becomes the hero by the end. In that final kind of act as well, particularly, and it was something we had a lot of conversations with Madeline about it and the way she wanted to approach it.
The way she wanted to do things and everything and the way she can come into a scene and we shooting it and she can be like, I think this line is wrong. I think this is… She was so in tuned with her character and just giving a look would tell more and there’s a moment where they’re having dinner where she’s trying to serve the plate up and just because of her recovery she can’t.
And there’s a smile between her and the robot as she says. Sorry, family secret and the way Megan smiles is just, I would laugh every time I’d see it on the monitor. There is so much intensity between those two characters and it’s just a dinner sequence. But yeah, it was fun to kind of play out those scenes with that.
More About Subservience (2024)
Subservience Alice, a lifelike artificially intelligent android, who can take care of any family and home. Looking for help with the housework, a struggling father purchases Alice after his wife becomes sick. Alice suddenly becomes self-aware and wants everything her new family has to offer, starting with the affection of her owner – and she’ll kill to get it.
Subserviencewill be released On Demand and on Digital on September 13.
Subservience
Cast
Subservience, directed by S.K. Dale and released in 2024, follows a struggling father who brings home a lifelike AI amidst his wife’s absence. The AI develops self-awareness, desiring the affection of her owner, and becomes dangerously determined to attain everything the family has to offer.
