Subservience
by Daniel Baldwin
Life isn’t going so well for construction foreman Nick (Michele Morrone). Stress is high in his professional life, now that every construction worker beneath him has been canned in favor of robot labor. Lucky for Nick, the law still requires that a human foreman be on site. At least for now, anyway.
Things at home are even more stressful. His wife Maggie (Madeline Zima) needs a new heart. Having a costly, life-threatening surgery hanging over their heads isn’t easing any tensions. With Maggie in the hospital, Nick needs some help taking care of the kids and their home. Enter Alice (Megan Fox). Alice is a robot assistant designed specifically for housekeeping and babysitting. If you think hiring a cyborg nanny that looks like Megan Fox to (temporarily) replace the woman of the house is a bad idea, you are 110% correct.
What transpires from that moment onward isn’t going to be a shock to horror fans or even Lifetime viewers. A mentally and emotionally exhausted Nick does the stupidest thing imaginable: he sleeps with the robo-femme fatale, it develops a fixation on him, and chaos ensues. This isn’t a spoiler, it’s the hook. It’s exactly what we watch movies like this for. As the late Roger Ebert said, “it’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.”
Thankfully, the execution is mostly on point. While the world-building could have been stronger and the eroticism could have used a bit more steam, this is an entertaining high-concept yarn that wisely leans on its core cast. Subservience marks Megan Fox’s second teaming with director SK Dale, following on from their underseen 2021 thriller Till Death. While Fox isn’t given as much to chew on here due to the sheer nature of the role, she remains a standout.
Morrone carries himself well as the male lead and Zima is great as the wife who really shouldn’t have to be dealing with a stupid man or a crazy android on top of her life-threatening medical condition. Then again, maybe the bad luck is just all on Zima herself? After all, as the star of the ‘90s sitcom The Nanny, as well as both Mr. Nanny and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, this underrated actress seems to be a magnet for psychotic babysitters!
If you’re a fan of science fiction-tinged thrillers, check it out.
