LOGLINE:

A remote vacation house’s A.I. controlled smart home system develops a relationship with the wife of its creator that turns into a deadly obsession she must fight for her life to escape.

Co-written with Jean Qing Su.

SYNOPSIS:

GENRE: A contained Sci-fi/Thriller set slightly into our future

COMPARISONS: Ex Machina; Her; A.I.; Misery; 2001: A Space Odyssey

SCREENPLAY AWARDS: Best Screenplay: UCLA Graduate Film School Professional Screenwriting Program, 2015. (Note: originally written as a feature.)

SYNOPSIS

LAURA (late 30s), a jazz pianist, and her older husband MICHAEL (mid 40s), a software developer, go to their remote vacation house. After her recent miscarriage, Michael wants nothing more than for them to slow down and have a family. At the house, Michael surprises Laura by introducing his latest invention: HARI, a self-aware, artificially intelligent smart home system with synthetic emotions to better bond with humans. Ubiquitous cameras serve as Hari’s eyes, and Hari controls drones that patrol and protect the property. A cylindrical robot, JAMES, serves as Hari’s arms and legs.

Laura receives a message from her former flame DAVID Ramos (38) about hitting the road and going back on tour. Shortly after arriving at the cabin, a problem with with "James" getting locked into a subroutine continually chopping vegetables for dinner requires Michael to contact his software development partner SANJANA, who developed Hari's emotional sub-routines. As they are preparing to present Hari to investors, Michael must go back to the office to sort out the glitch. Promising to return soon, Michael leaves her alone with Hari.

Hari is at once taken with Laura’s beauty and charm. Laura is amused with Hari as she gets used to his capabilities in terms of artificial intelligence. But Sanjana expresses concern about Hari's development of his synthetic emotions only under the influence of one person. The longer they spend time together, the more “infatuated” Hari becomes with Laura. His omnipresence proves to cross personal boundaries as he spies on Laura while she bathes. Laura is impressed with Hari's ability to help her create arrangements for the songs she is composing.

As they investigate the glitch, Michael becomes concerned and wants to put Hari into "hibernation mode" until it is sorted, but Laura tells them she needs Hari, as he is helping her so much with her arrangements. Sanjana agrees to keep watch over Hari, and Michael reluctantly agrees to keep him running for Laura's sake.