Scenario is not bad but acting, the music and sound effects, and the unrelated emotional scenes are terrible.

This is a perfect example that exceptional movies can be made on a low budget and without an all-star Hollywood cast. No abundance of explosions or unnecessary splatter here either but the film remains thrilling and captivating throughout. I dare say the script is not completely original (but lets face it, what is completely new these days?) and it has strong connections with many gems of the genre. Some mentioned "blade runner", "ghost in the shell" is the first that comes to my mind. It is rather obvious to me that whoever directed this has studied the sci-fi anime genre thoroughly and adopted the style perfectly to the norms and limitations of a conventional acted film.The performances of the leading actors are exemplary and together with all the supporting roles and the rather modest movie settings, they create a very believable world where the viewer can immerse himself. All the parts come together very well and lift this film from potential mediocrity to the status of visual poetry.Productions such as these, both emotionally and philosophically engaging, renew my faith in the artistry of film-making. Congratulations are in order for the director James Caradog!

Maybe the films about artificial intelligence that were made in the last 5 years might outnumber to those were made before that for centuries. Especially there are lots of B movies on this theme and some of them surpassed the film critics and the film fanatics' expectations. Here is another one, but this is a British film. Though one thing I don't understand is, in all these films they make the same mistakes. I mean the film characters recognising the AI as one of us which leads to a major disaster.Sets in the future, when the Chinese aggression towards the Taiwan made the west, especially Britain to counteract them in the region, they decide to build a most advanced AI. But when the scientist creates beyond what the military needed, the conflict of interest surface among them. From this, who gains what, and how the story ends comes in the latter part.Initially I liked it, but not the progression. It led nowhere, but the same crumble and a conflict between the man and the machine. I'm not saying the film was bad, but I blame the overcrowded films on this theme. The filmmakers have to start to think a different kind of storyline. Going advance like what AIs can do in the field than the initiation programmes which is too old for now and onwards. So that's where I disliked it, but not hated it. I hope you enjoyed it better than me or would do if you yet to try.5/10

Covers rather well worn territory about A.I. and really doesn't bring anything new to the table philosophically, but it's solidly made with good production values that belie its extremely low budget. The mood is set by the Vangelisesque score by Tom Raybould, clearly doing an homage to 'Blade Runner' (not the only tip of the cap to the latter in The Machine). Good turns from Toby Stephens and particularly Caity Lotz as the titular Machine. Also features Denis "Wedge" Lawson doing his best Jonathan Price impression.It's not a great film, but I think it's absolutely worth a watch for genre fans. For all others, your mileage may vary.