Once more for the people in the back: Unchecked artificial intelligence is bad.  Every social media outlet is telling you how great it is, how it is going to save you time and money.  It’s all nonsense, of course, just more ways for mega-corporations and media empires to make more money off your personal information.  At least the creative community continues to coax the wider world in the right direction with cautionary tales.  The next is on its way from Blumhouse, whose steady stream of successful mainstream horror flicks has been most impressive.  Afraid (also AfrAId) hails from writer-director Chris Weitz, creator of some memorable genre hits including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Golden Compass, and Antz.  John Cho (Star Trek) and Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts) star as parents in a family with a new AI device.  In the tradition of AMC’s Humans, The Terminator, and more recently Blumhouse’s M3GAN, the family’s future doesn’t look so good.

Night Swim, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Happy Death Day, Halloween, The Black Phone, Freaky, Split, and M3GAN–Blumhouse didn’t match the hype with Five Nights at Freddy’s, but it’s been a reliable studio for scares that don’t take the genre too far.

Check out the new trailer for Afraid:

The movie also features supporting cast Riki Lindhome, Havana Rose Liu, David Dastmalchian, Lukita Maxwell, and Keith Carradine.

Look for Afraid (originally titled They Listen) in theaters August 30, 2024, with hopefully a streaming service release close to that date as well, similar to recent Blumhouse release schedules.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg