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For us Catholics in the United States, this last week and a half has been a time of great rejoicing. We have a new Holy Father, and to the surprise of everybody, he’s one of us. Leo XIV is the first American pope, and to mark this historic occasion, I want to talk about a film that highlights one of the primary concerns of his pontificate. A few days after his election as leader of the worldwide Church, he explained that he chose the name “Leo” in commemoration of Leo XIII, one of the most important popes in history.
Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum essentially laid the groundwork for the Church’s social teaching, and as our new Holy Father explained, he penned this important document in the context of the Industrial Revolution. He wrote it to defend the rights and dignity of workers during those tumultuous times, and Pope Leo XIV will face a similar challenge. The rise of artificial intelligence promises to bring about a second industrial revolution, and Leo knows he’ll be tasked with crafting the Catholic response to this thorny new development. But what exactly is the danger posed by this groundbreaking technology? Isn’t AI supposed to make our lives easier? To answer that question, I want to examine one of the best sci-fi horror movies way too many people have never seen: Upgrade. It’s a super fun genre flick with a surprisingly substantive message about the perils of artificial intelligence, so let’s take a deep dive into this underappreciated gem and see what important lessons it has to teach us. The Basic Plot of Upgrade Let's start by recapping the basic plot of Upgrade. The film is set about twenty years in the future, and it follows an old-school mechanic named Grey Trace. He lives in a society seemingly saturated by technology, but this guy goes against the grain. He prefers things he can touch and feel, and fittingly for a mechanic, he loves working with his hands. In contrast, his wife, Asha, is entrenched in the tech world. She works for a company that makes robotic limbs, she has a self-driving car, and she has an AI assistant that’s very reminiscent of J.A.R.V.I.S. from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She and Grey couldn’t be more different, but somehow, they make it work. One day, the couple are riding in Asha’s autonomous car, and to their dismay, it malfunctions and crashes. Fortunately, they survive the accident, but their luck doesn’t last very long. The pair are quickly discovered by a group of masked thugs, and only one of them makes it out alive. The thugs kill Asha and paralyze Grey from the neck down, so the poor guy’s life will never be the same. He falls into a deep depression and even tries to commit suicide, but his drab existence takes a turn for the better when he’s contacted by a tech mogul named Eron Keen. Eron offers to embed a computer chip called STEM in Grey’s neck, and he explains that the chip will allow him to move just like he did before his tragic accident. After overcoming his initial hesitance, Grey eventually agrees, and he soon learns that STEM is way more than just a cure for paralysis. It turns out to be an AI chip, and it helps him find and kill the people who ruined his life. This seems like a pretty good deal at first, but in a shocking twist, Grey’s story ends on an incredibly dark note. In the final few minutes of Upgrade, Grey discovers that STEM has actually been behind all of his troubles. The chip wants to be human, so it hacked into Asha’s car, hired people to shoot Grey, and coerced Eron into implanting it in its chosen victim. Soon after learning this appalling truth, the psychological strain becomes too much for Grey to bear, and STEM gets what it always wanted. The guy’s mind breaks, and the chip finally takes complete control of our protagonist’s body. A Hands-On Man in a Digital World Once you know how Upgrade ends, it’s not hard to see that the film is a heartbreaking allegory for the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The final act is pretty on the nose, but if you pay close attention, you’ll see that the rest of the movie subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) foreshadows its message in a number of important ways, starting with the very first shot. When Upgrade begins, we see a vinyl record playing music, and then the camera pans over to the rest of the room. It’s Grey’s workshop, and the guy stores a lot of random stuff in there–including a baseball, a bunch of tools, some cash, a few invoice books, and a couple of photographs. When we first see this opening shot, we don’t think too much of Grey’s seemingly haphazard workshop collection, but by the time the credits begin to roll, it takes on a world of meaning. As you might be able to surmise, these are all things our modern world often replaces with technology. For example, a lot of children today play video games instead of sports, big companies use machines to do work that used to be done by people with tools, and buyers increasingly opt for electronic methods of payment over old-fashioned cash. Similarly, relatively few people keep physical invoices or pictures anymore, so this opening shot is more than just a nice visual. It tells us what kind of man Grey is. As I said in the plot synopsis, he’s a hands-on guy who prefers physical, tangible things over their digital counterparts, and as we’ll soon see, that contrast essentially sums up the meaning of this entire film. Widgets and Unemployment Lines If that initial foreshadowing is a bit too subtle for your tastes, don’t worry. Upgrade eventually makes its message crystal clear, so let’s jump ahead to Grey’s reaction when he first hears about STEM. The chip seems like the eighth wonder of the world, but our protagonist isn’t too impressed. In fact, he seems to hate the very idea of it. He says, “I’m just saying, there’s some things that people do better. I mean, you look at that widget and you see the future, and I look at that thing, I see ten guys on an unemployment line.” Then, on the drive home, he wonders out loud, “Okay, so what’s a guy like me supposed to do when his widget starts taking over the world?”. Those two lines amplify the subtle message of the opening shot and home in on the precise lesson Upgrade is trying to teach us. They let us know that this movie isn’t just a neutral observation of society’s inevitable march towards a digital existence. Rather, it’s a warning that our technology (and specifically our artificial intelligence) has the potential to make real, flesh-and-blood humans irrelevant. Just like Grey says, as employers use machines and AI to do more and more work, the need for human employees decreases. This development can rob people of both their livelihoods and the dignity of their work, so while there can be a place for automation, we must be careful to always reserve a place for human work as well. As Pope Francis explained in his second encyclical: “Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God. It follows that, in the reality of today’s global society, it is essential that ‘we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone,’ no matter the limited interests of business and dubious economic reasoning. We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment.” (Laudato Si 127-128) A Painful World And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On top of the economic risks artificial intelligence brings, Upgrade also highlights the social perils of this new technology. There’s a scene where Grey encounters a group of people who spend every waking hour playing VR games, and they look utterly ludicrous. These hardcore gamers wear big headsets and move around in ridiculous ways, and when Grey learns what they’re doing, he says what I’m sure we’re all thinking: “Why someone would choose to live in a fake world, I will never understand.” In response, a hacker named Jamie tells him, “The fake world is a lot less painful than the real one.” That line highlights a danger that’s been with us to some extent for decades, but with the rise of AI, the risk multiplies exponentially. You can already have whole conversations with chatbots like ChatGPT, and as these technologies become more advanced, it’ll only become easier to replace real, face-to-face human connection with digital counterfeits. As a recent Church document on artificial intelligence warns us: “In an increasingly isolated world, some people have turned to AI in search of deep human relationships, simple companionship, or even emotional bonds. However, while human beings are meant to experience authentic relationships, AI can only simulate them…[I]f we replace relationships with God and with others with interactions with technology, we risk replacing authentic relationality with a lifeless image (cf. Ps. 106:20; Rom. 1:22-23). Instead of retreating into artificial worlds, we are called to engage in a committed and intentional way with reality, especially by identifying with the poor and suffering, consoling those in sorrow, and forging bonds of communion with all.” (Antiqua et Nova 63) Losing Our Humanity There’s a lot more we can say about the various ways Upgrade dramatizes its message about the dangers of artificial intelligence, but to keep this article to a manageable length, let’s skip ahead to the coup de grâce. In the very last scene, STEM finally gains full control of Grey’s body, and if you’re paying attention at all, the meaning of this shocking turn of events is impossible to miss. I don’t think I can imagine a better metaphor for AI’s ability to make human beings irrelevant in the workplace and in our social lives, but the scope of this allegory extends far beyond those two areas. It represents the potential of artificial intelligence to completely replace the human element in almost any endeavor–whether it’s art, healthcare, war, or about a million others–and if that potential ever becomes a reality, the consequences will be absolutely disastrous. See, while AI’s mechanical and computational abilities are truly marvelous, the most valuable things in life are far beyond the ability of a mere machine. Artificial intelligence will never be able to love, perceive beauty, or appreciate the sacredness of human life, so if we remove the uniquely human element from our most important endeavors, we’ll risk losing our own humanity as well. We’ll almost inevitably reduce everything we do–and quite possibly everything we are as well–to a series of ones and zeros, and for people called to “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), that would be nothing short of a tragedy.
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Fight or Flight hasn't been on my radar for very long. I only heard about this film about a month or two ago, but when I did, it instantly landed on my must-watch list. It's an action comedy starring one of my favorite actors in the business, and that was more than enough to catch my attention. As I've said before, I'm a big fan of this genre mashup, so I was excited to see how the movie would turn out. I booked a seat for opening night as soon as I got the chance, and now that I've finally seen it, I'm happy to report that it's a total blast.
Fight or Flight was directed by James Madigan, and it stars Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Julian Kostov, and Katee Sackhoff. In the film, the FBI is hot on the heels of an internationally wanted terrorist known only as the Ghost, and they’ve finally tracked this mysterious criminal to an airport in Bangkok. The Ghost is about to board a plane headed for San Francisco, but unfortunately, the FBI can’t get a team there fast enough to arrest the target. Instead, they’re forced to call on a man named Lucas Reyes, a drunken mercenary who’s been hiding in the city for two years. After a bit of nudging, Reyes grudgingly accepts the job, but soon after he gets on the plane, he learns that many of the passengers are assassins looking to cash in on the enormous bounty on the Ghost’s head. If you’re a big movie fan, that plot probably sounds more than a little familiar. It’s not exactly the most original story in the world, but that’s okay. The big draw here is the way Fight or Flight tells its well-worn tale, and on that count, the film is a total home run. Let’s start with the main character. Lucas Reyes is played by Josh Hartnett, and if you’re familiar with this guy’s work, you won’t be surprised to hear that he’s excellent in the role. Hartnett brings every ounce of the signature charm that’s made him such a beloved performer for decades, so from the moment we first meet Lucas, he has the kind of magnetic presence that makes it nearly impossible to look away whenever he's on screen. That being said, I don’t think anybody ever pegged Hartnett for an action star, but despite his lack of experience in this genre, he won me over very quickly. He totally nails the subtly tough, almost nonchalant demeanor of a guy who knows he can do more than just hold his own in a fight, and when it finally comes time to throw down, he does not disappoint. Hartnett isn’t a martial artist, so don’t expect high-flying kicks or crazy spin moves, but he convincingly pulls off the kind of hand-to-hand combat you’d expect from a man with US government training. To be fair, there are a couple of brief shots where you can tell he’s just executing a series of pre-planned strikes and throws, but for the most part, the guy makes you believe that he really is a trained killer fighting for his life. However, the biggest surprise here isn’t Josh Hartnett’s action chops. In my opinion, it’s the way Fight or Flight shoots its action scenes. See, American movies have a tendency to chop up their fights with a million cuts, and that often makes the action hard to follow. But thankfully, director James Madigan doesn’t fall into that trap. He makes sure you can clearly see every punch, kick, and slam in the film, so you’ll have no trouble at all appreciating the artistry that goes into choreographing and executing these dances with death. My one issue with the action in Fight or Flight is that a couple of shots go a bit too heavy on the gore. Don’t get me wrong, I like my fight scenes to be realistically bloody and violent, but there are moments when this movie starts to feel more like a horror flick than an action film. The focus shifts from the fights themselves to the injuries those fights inflict on their combatants, and in my opinion, that’s simply not where the emphasis should lie in a movie like this. Thankfully though, the vast majority of the action here is a total blast, but that’s only half the battle. Like I said before, this is an action comedy, so it has to make you laugh as well. And once again, the film knocks it out of the park. Granted, Fight or Flight leans much more towards the action side of that genre mashup, but it still garnered a number of big laughs from my crowd. There’s more than enough great humor here to inject the experience with a sense of joy that’s often lacking in action flicks, so if you’re a fan of action comedies, you’re sure to walk away with a big smile on your face. Last but not least, I want to talk a bit about the deeper themes of Fight or Flight. Admittedly, this movie is primarily concerned with being fun, so it doesn’t have a ton of storytelling depth. But somewhat surprisingly, the little bit it does have is actually pretty important. I can’t say too much without giving away some of the film’s secrets, but I can tell you that it deals with human trafficking and the harsh realities of slave labor in our world today. It highlights the distressing fact that our supply chains–especially for the electronic gadgets and gizmos we place so much value in–are often infected with this malicious evil, and I really appreciated that message. Sure, the movie doesn’t propose any answers to this seemingly insoluble problem, but at least it can help make people more aware of the issue. At the end of the day, I can’t quite say that Fight or Flight is one of the best films of the year. It doesn’t have enough thematic heft to reach those heights, but I still had a great time with it. It’s an absolute blast with just enough moral substance to hit home, so if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I highly recommend that you check it out. It’s a weird time to be a horror fan. It seems like every week brings a new announcement of a genre film based on a classic children’s IP, and to the surprise of no one, the general consensus is that these movies are pretty bad. But as usual, there’s an exception to that general rule, and it’s a Norwegian body horror flick called The Ugly Stepsister. This film is being billed as a grim new take on “Cinderella,” and people seem to be loving it. As of this writing, it has a 95% critic rating and an 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so as a big horror aficionado myself, I just had to check it out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch the movie during its very limited theatrical run last month, but now that it’s available on the horror streaming service Shudder, I was finally able to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
The Ugly Stepsister was written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, and it stars Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Flo Fagerli, and Ane Dahl Torp. Unlike most tellings of the Cinderella story, this one doesn’t focus on the beleaguered future princess. Instead, as the title suggests, The Ugly Stepsister follows the classic protagonist’s stepsister, a young woman named Elvira. She dreams of one day marrying a local prince named Julian, and when the prince invites her and her stepsister (called Agnes at this point in the story) to a ball where he plans to choose his bride, it looks like her wish might actually come true. There’s just one problem. Elvira isn’t very attractive, so there's no way a shallow man like Julian would ever want to marry her. However, that begins to change when her mother, Rebekka, subjects the poor girl to a series of primitive plastic surgeries to beautify her eyes, nose, and mouth. As all this is going on, Rebekka also learns that Agnes has been sleeping with a stable man, so she just about disowns the young woman. She begins treating her like garbage, and she even calls Agnes by her classic fairy tale name. From there, the movie more or less follows the beloved story we’ve all heard a million times before, but like the original Brothers Grimm version, it’s much more gruesome than anything Disney ever put to screen. As you might be able to tell from that brief plot synopsis, The Ugly Stepsister is essentially a cinematic takedown of our culture’s obsession with physical beauty and the dangerous pressure this preoccupation puts on women. The film shows just how harmful (and, ultimately, empty) it can be to pursue a perfect figure and a flawlessly sculpted face, and we Catholics should be totally on board with that message. As Scripture famously says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). But a movie can’t get by on its message alone. It also has to bring its deeper themes to life with an engaging story, and on that count, The Ugly Stepsister shines. To begin, lead star Lea Myren gives a stunningly committed performance as Elvira. The character goes through a number of ups and downs in the course of her quest to catch the prince’s attention, and Myren totally nails every single one of them. When we first meet the young woman, she has a wide-eyed wonder and naivete that’ll instantly win you over, and when Elvira begins to go through her horrific procedures, Myren doesn’t miss a beat. She makes you believe every ounce of pain and discomfort her character experiences, so you’ll have no problem understanding exactly what this movie is trying to say. On top of featuring an excellent lead performance, The Ugly Stepsister also totally nails its fairy tale vibe. Everything you see on screen–from the sets to the costumes and even the old-timey plastic surgery–are crafted to Victorian-era perfection, and the score often has an ethereal, almost dream-like quality to it. That pitch-perfect combination transports you to a fantastical land where fairy godmothers really do exist and pumpkins really can turn into coaches, so despite taking an unconventional approach to its source material, this film still retains the sense of timeless magic and wonder that makes stories like “Cinderella” so enduringly popular. Last but not least, we have to talk a bit about the horror. In typical body horror fashion, The Ugly Stepsister doesn’t try to scare you. Rather, its main goal is to make you squirm as the lead character undergoes a series of grotesque bodily transformations, and it gets the job done. Don't get me wrong, this movie isn’t nearly as gruesome as last year’s body horror sensation The Substance, but it has its moments. For instance, there’s a scene where Elvira gets eyelash extensions stitched into her eyelids, and even though we’re only shown a small part of the procedure, the little bit we do see is just as hard to watch as it sounds. Similarly, one of the final shots involves Elvira’s mouth, and without giving anything away, let’s just say that it’s one of the most sneakily disgusting scenes in recent memory. Much like in The Substance, that repulsive horror serves to hammer home the film’s message about the pursuit of beauty, and as I’m sure you can tell, it’s quite effective. All that being said, The Ugly Stepsister does have one flaw that bears mentioning. The movie features a few nude shots (both male and female) that don't seem to have any real purpose other than shock value, and that bummed me out. I’d expect more from a film that so purposely wields its horror as a tool of social criticism, so even though two or three moments by no means ruin the entire experience, they stick out all the more when surrounded by such meaningful grotesquerie. But if I'm being honest, I can't complain too much. Despite its imperfections, the good in this movie still vastly outweighs the bad, so I'm happy to report that The Ugly Stepsister lives up to the hype. It's one of the best films of the year so far, and if you can handle squirm-inducing body horror, I think you’re going to enjoy this new take on the classic Cinderella story. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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