Who Among Us

How do you know you are you? Can you be certain your memories are yours and do not belong to someone else? Such ideas have been explored in science fiction media of various sorts since time immemorial. Perhaps, most famously, for the modern age, Blade Runner and its replicants, use its noir-detective story to explore what makes a human, well, human. Even videogames such as Fallout 4, among others, get in on the act. Now comes Who Among Us, a short film on Dust, that puts its ideas right there in the title.

Some unspecified time in the future, the most popular game show on TV is Who Among Us. In the “greatest game show in human history,” which is watched by some 4-billion people worldwide, there is a single android hidden amongst the half a dozen contestants. The winners of each round, with a round consisting of a test, can eliminate any other player, themselves included. The goal is to either be the last one standing or correctly guess the artificial intelligence. The host, Dr. Nadio (Terry He), encourages the audience to vote on who they believe the android to be.

“…there is a single android hidden amongst the half a dozen contestants.”

In this episode, there are only two contestants left. Seven (Susana Borosic) and Drake (Kingsley Ngadi) must do a taste test. The winner of this test will then prove their humanity. But, Seven begins cracking under the pressure, even though she is positive she is a human being. However, due to her slip-ups and mundane performance on the show, Seven begins questioning everything she thought she knew about herself.

Co-writers and co-directors Rebecca Kahn and Abhishek Prasad go to great lengths to make their 12 and a half minute short look and feel like a game show. The stage is a bit kitschy but in that vibrantly color, flashy, glitzy kind of way, that is perfect for catching the eye. The detector device that determines if you are a human or not is multi-colored with flashing lights on either side. It could easily exist on a number of shows nowadays.