Blu-ray: Surrogates
What’s the story?
These perfect, real-life avatars are controlled by their owners who stay in the comfort and safety of their own homes. Greer and his partner, Agent Peters (Radha Mitchell), are called in to probe the mysterious deaths of some surrogates - whose owners died simultaneously. Greer begins to suspect that there’s some advanced weaponry at work - that can kill a surrogate and it’s owner via their remote connection. Meanwhile Greer’s own avatar is destroyed and he’s forced to continue the investigation in the flesh - which leads him to confront the inventor of the surrogates - and a cataclysmic conclusion involving the fates of millions of humans.
We think: There are a few holes in the story’s technology - how do the surrogates experience the pleasure of eating or listening to music for example? However, it does what a sci-fi film is supposed to and comments on today’s techno-society by taking what is now to an extreme conclusion. Greer realises that he and his wife have using their surrogates to hide been from the reality of their son’s death - much as we often hide behind our computers - inventing ourselves through email or the internet. While not quite the blockbuster we were promised, it’s an intriguing look at how we could end up if it all gets out of hand.
Extras: Blu-ray include a feature on the science and reality of the surrogates idea and how they created them for the movie, and another on how they brought the graphic novel to life. DVD - commentary and music video.
Three Stars
