There is a hidden sci-fi gem that Netflix just added to its streaming service. At the start of every month, Netflix adds new movies to its streaming service, and then a slow drip of more additions throughout the month. This first day of this month alone saw the addition of some great movies like The American President, Ex Machina, Hell or High Water, and How to Train Your Dragon. However, Netflix doesn’t just stop at the first of the month, and it has several more releases lined up for February, including the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon on Feb. 10 and The Black Phone on Feb. 12.
On February 6, Netflix also added an underrated sci-fi gem called Archive that genre fans need to check out. Directed by Gavin Rothery in his directorial debut, Archive is a British film that was released in 2020, starring some familiar faces, including Theo James, Rhona Mitra, and Toby Jones. It tells the story of a scientist who wants to advance artificial intelligence to bring his wife back from the dead.
Why Should You Watch Archive on Netflix?
Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
Archive is a sci-fi gem that almost no one talks about, but it is a movie that deserves a lot more attention. One problem with its release was that it was supposed to debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2020, but that event was canceled thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, it was dumped into a digital release with limited screenings in whatever theaters were still open at the time. This was disappointing because the movie was a deep look at playing god while showing what can go wrong when AI gains too much power.
Theo James (Divergent series) is George, and after his wife Jules dies in a car accident, her consciousness was stored in a device by Archive, and he can speak to her for up to 200 hours. However, he is also a scientist and is secretyl working on a robot that can hold her consciousness permanently. As with movies like Frankenstein and sci-fi films like Ex Machina, this is a story about a man playing god and trying to beat death by creating life. It never works out well for those people.
That said, this movie has a shocking twist finale that turns the entire story on its head and makes it one of the smarter sci-fi movies of the 2020s. Critics were impressed, with a slightly high 78% Rotten Tomatoes score, although the audience score is a slightly lower 68% rating. The main consensus was that Archive offers an “engaging meditation on love and human nature.” Rather than condemning the scientist for trying to beat death, it offers a look at what it means to finally let go.
Director Gavin Rothery hasn’t had a chance to direct anything else since he made Archive, and the messed-up release might have hurt him more than it should have. As the head of graphic design on Duncan Jones’ minor sci-fi masterpiece Moon in 2009, he has proven to have an eye and an ear for smart sci-fi, and there is always the hope that Archive, arriving on Netflix, could help him get something else to do in the future. If it is anything close to Archive, it could offer up another sci-fi gem, and hopefully one that gets more attention from audiences.
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