content warning: nudity

One of the more fascinating elements of modern cinema is seeing how it adapts to the constantly changing technological landscape. Even 20 years ago, personal computers with Internet access, let alone cellphones, were not ubiquitous devices; now we can’t live without them. The Internet is considered an essential service by the World Health Organization.

The existence of the Internet, phones, and adaptive artificial intelligence poses a challenge in film. So many classic stories can be solved by asking an operating system to look up information. The solution for so long has been removing phones from the scenario in film. Set the action in a remote location and no one can get a signal to ask for help. Have the phones confiscated by security or break in an accident and you have the same effect.

Films like The App posit the opposite approach. What if the technology becomes the backbone of the storytelling? It’s harder to pull off, but it can be quite rewarding if it’s done well.

The App is an Italian sci-fi/drama/romance/thriller hybrid from writer/director Elisa Fuksas. The title of the film is not a metaphor or some grand symbolic play; it is the substance of the film. Fuksas commits to a story about a new kind of dating app and her vision is quite fascinating.

Niccolò is the future heir to a multi-million dollar fortune. He’s not interested in the money. He wants to make a name for himself as an actor. He is cast as Jesus Christ in a new film and it’s the role that can create his career. His girlfriend Eva is doing her thesis on a new online dating app built around an AI system that selects potential matches by examining your writing, your photos, your speech—every interaction you have with the phone. Eva asks Niccolò to try out the app as part of her research, not realizing that Niccolò might find a better romantic match than her through the smartest dating app to ever exist.

Fuksas clearly knows enough about how new social media apps are developing to play off of genuine trends in the algorithm. The titular app works like TikTok, gauging exactly what to give you based on what you spend time looking at. The sci-fi element takes it a step further, giving the app permission to probe into your personal life and habits to find your perfect match. Our AI suggestion technology is not quite this advanced yet. However, if you’ve ever experienced a particularly effective program that starts to feel like it’s built for you, you’ll buy into the premise of The App.

The App lies somewhere between Her and Fatal Attraction in its approach. It’s not a bad combination to pull inspiration from. Her is that Academy Award-nominated romantic film about a man falling in love with the operating system of his Alexa/Siri-like home assistant at the expense of his real world relationships. Fatal Attraction is that Academy Award-winning thriller about a person’s infidelity upending the lives of everyone around them as a trist-turned-stalker stakes her claim on everything she feels she’s owed.

Is The App at the same level at these films? No. It’s not bad, but it’s a bit muddy. There are a lot of plot ideas fighting each other out over the 80 minute runtime and they don’t all feel successful. The app itself is believable, but the story that comes from it is not.

The least successful element of the story is the b-plot. A hotel hospitality manager named Ofelia becomes obsessed with Niccolò. She has been tasked with making sure his every need is met and quickly falls in love with his kindness. Soon she is the only one allowed to do anything for Niccolò at the hotel and makes it a point to know everything about his life and his work.

That subplot creaks. It’s not as fresh as the rest of the film and drags it down considerably. Fuksas also uses Ofelia to hammer home all the Christ metaphors going on in the film. Ofelia is a woman who punishes herself for pursuing love by wearing a barbed wire garter and praying at the local church. The hotel she works at is filled with Catholic iconography, included gold crucifixes and light up statues of Mary around every corner.

Niccolò is the false Christ figure by design, unable to meet the demands of a figure worthy of love and devotion. He begins to breakdown on the film set. It’s a big swing at a grander statement about sacrifice and love that’s just a bit too literal to work. There is literally a scene where Niccolò is hoisted up on a bluescreen cross in front of a greenscreen background and demands he be brought back down because he’s afraid of heights and doesn’t want to look down on anyone.

The App is an interesting science fiction film. There’s a surprising amount of play and experimentation going on in the story. The visuals are great and you can’t accuse Fuksas of holding back anything. Everything doesn’t quite wrap up as neatly as it could, but it’s fascinating to see the story swing through all these different genres scene by scene.

The App is currently streaming on Netflix.

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