Credit: credit: Paper Street Pictures & Last Resort Ideas

After the idiotic but entertaining M3GAN, it’s reasonable to worry that SXSW Midnighter selection The Artifice Girl might be just another sassy teen AI drama. Instead, it’s a complex and captivating sci fi fable, in the tradition Marjorie Prime and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, but told with touching intimacy.

This is, at heart, a chamber piece in three acts: present, near future, and the end of a life. The opening seems like a simple game of cat-and-mouse, as two Federal investigators (Sinda Nichols and David Girard) prosecuting pedophiles online, pull in the meek yet secretive Gareth, a techy who they suspect has been using live bait to entrap these online predators. He has, he admits, but not in the way they think: he’s trained an AI called Cherry (Tatum Matthews) to act like a pre-teen girl. Cherry’s not a real girl, so no harm, no foul, right?

Right?

Writer/director Franklin Ritch (who also plays Gareth at two stages of his life) has crafted an elegant and poihnant technological morality tale that asks – and doesn’t always have answers for – profound questions about humanity’s responsibility to its newest creation. The stage is set for difficult questions that evolve over time, and an important shifting of perspectives. Cherry, initially, is a general AI, as close to a living entity and independent intellect as is conceivable: but, as she is bound by the parameters of her initial design, is her nature limited? And what does this self-awareness mean when she observes herself, in isolation, among humans, and in relationship to a task that seems monstrous but necessary.

The trio of humans runs queries and question motivations – their own and Cherry’s – in what is undoubtedly a heady and wordy script. But then, it needs to be, and it’s Matthew’s performance that ultimately gives the debate both drama and depth. Both the human characters and the audience will feel drawn to this winsome, smart, smiling child, but she is not, nor shall she ever be one. But that’s not really Ritch’s point. The real conundrum of The Artifice Girl is not how humanity will regard an AI, but how it will regard itself.

Those questions are at their most pointed and open-ended in the remarkable third act, a duet between Matthews and genre legend Lance Henriksen as the aging Gareth. Yes, there is a wry smile to be had about the actor who played Bishop, that most gentle of androids, once again exploring the humanity of artificial life: but this final discussion doesn’t simply wrap those issues up in a misguidedly neat bow. Instead, Ritch’s script rightly embraces the messiness of life – whether organic or engineered – for a resolution that will both touch your heart and leave you pondering.

The Artifice Girl

Visions, World Premiere

Wed 15, 12:45pm and 1:15pm, Violet Crown Cinema

Catch up with all of The Austin Chronicle‘s SXSW 2023 coverage.

This article appears in March 10 • 2023.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.