Adapted by Davis and co-writer Iain Reid from the latter’s 2018 novel, Foe is a three-hander between Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre which unravels mysteries of the human heart in long, ponderous takes that tease ethical questions answered far more succinctly (and thrillingly) by Blade Runner and its imitators. Alas, it’s a case of right time, wrong film because his portrait of a marriage in crisis, shot in Australia in early 2022, feels almost as parched of emotion as the barren, sun-scorched expanse of mid-21st-century America depicted on screen in sweeping vistas conjured by cinematographer Matyas Erdrly. Review: The use of generative AI is one of the burning issues at the heart of ongoing strikes in Hollywood so the timing of director Garth Davis’s contemplative sci-fi drama about a brave new world of self-determinative lifeforms is serendipitous to say the least.
