Despite a somewhat lack-luster title, Android Re-Enactment has some things going for it. If you had about $23,000 and wanted to make a film about an android defying its’ programming, this wouldn’t be a bad example. It’s pretty ambitious for a low-budget science fiction film. It’s definitely one for the true indie film lovers out there.
With off-beat humor and some impressive – and bloody – special effects for the budget, this film gave me more than anticipated. Part Blade Runner, part Ex Machina (three years BEFORE that film came out), part twisted Weird Science, and a dash of Terminator homage, Android Re-Enactment takes you on a fun, albeit bonkers, ride.
“…he creates androids based on people from his past and recreates a dinner party where he lost the love of his life…”
Ermus Daglek, retired Empathtek engineer, commandeers a defunct factory where he creates androids based on people from his past and recreates a dinner party where he lost the love of his life – until they malfunction and escape.
“Ermus Daglek.” Ok, that name must have an interesting origin story, right? Played by Jeff Sinasac (Murdoch Mysteries, Killjoys, and the upcoming Code 8), Ermus keeps enacting this uncomfortable dinner gathering with replicas of his ex-girlfriend, Candy, her parents, and a guy named Trace Mayter, played by a hilarious Adam Buller (Blue Collar Boys). Buller stands out here in particular as the needling and goading android looking to be the monkey wrench in Ermus’s best-laid plans.
The multiple attempts at this dinner party are to rekindle Ermus’s relationship with Candy somehow. To put it mildly, they don’t go well unless you call mishaps with a sharp knife “going well.” And if you do, you probably should’ve been at this dinner. The effects of these scenes are great. Think the original 1973 Westworld with Yul Brynner but, you know, messier. They’re doing a lot with a little.
"…an ill-advised use of a power drill, not to mention exploding bullets."
