Andy – What Happens When an Android Carer Becomes Self-Aware?

Although the subject of robots becoming self-aware is something that we are all a little overused to right now (especially with Ann Droid, courtesy of the BBC), having watched Andy, I felt I had to share it for several reasons.  Created by Black Elk Productions, It tells the story of Anne Malone.  Elderly, with a husband in a care home and a son, Nick, who is too busy to be around much, Anne has recently had an accident.  Nick provides her with a carer who turns out, much to Anne’s surprise, to be an android.  Hastily named Andy, the two form something of a bond but things quickly go awry and events quickly spiral out of the control of both human and android.  To say much more would provide you with too many spoilers, so watch the short and discover what happens.

What is quite remarkable about this is that Anne is played by Jane Merrow, who also wrote the screenplay.  I have to say here that it felt like there was a feature-length project crying to get out of this short, as sometimes there seem to be not so much gaps but sleight of hand going on, plot wise.  Anne’s neighbour, Pamela (played by Beverly Hills) is criminally underused, but does manage to get both quirkiness and friskiness across in the short time she is on screen.  I would have liked to have seen more of her, perhaps an attempt to seduce Andy would have made for great comedic relief.   Plus, Andy’s first foray to the farmer’s market with Anne is a little baffling – that such an advanced AI robot could malfunction so badly in terms of interacting with humans!

Regardless, this short does come across as a complete whole and it is very firmly down to the two leads who are both fantastic in their roles.  I thought the name Jane Merrow was familiar, and a little research quickly allowed me to discover more about the actress who has been professionally active since the sixties.  It might be easier to list what she hasn’t been in, but UK productions she appeared in that you have probably heard of (!) include Danger Man, The Saint, The Prisoner, The Avengers, and UFO.  During her time living in America, Merrow also appeared in Alias Smith and Jones, Cannon, Police Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hart to Hart, Magnum PI, Airwolf and MacGyver. Phew!  And that’s only part of her CV.

In Andy, Merrow gives an understated but powerful performance.  Her experience as an actor comes through from the outset – complex emotions are expressed so subtly that the audience is drawn to her character and sympathises with her situation from the outset.  Her character, Anne, is obviously someone who has enjoyed both independence and control over her destiny and her frustration at being left in the care of an android comes across very convincingly, as does her reluctance to accept her need for help.  The growing bond between her and Andy comes across beautifully and the Judas Kiss moment (that’s all I’m saying) is heartbreaking. 

Jason Farries seems to be made for the part of Andy – and I am frankly amazed that he isn’t a household name in the UK (at least in my household) – but there is still plenty of time for that.  His good looks make him perfect for the part – a combination of boy next door and slightly preppy charm which robot designers would go for to make their product attractive to the eye but non-threatening.  Handome seems like an old-fashioned word to use these days, but it's the right one, here. Physically, too, he fits the role – Andy has the body strength needed to help lift and carry but not over-pronounced to the point where he looks like a Terminator!  This sounds a little like objectification, but these aspects are essential in enabling the audience to believe that he resembles something that an AI company would go for in their robot design.  I can imagine Andy being a very popular model (but maybe for the wrong reasons, cough cough!).

Farries combines the innocence of new “life” with, later, an underlying menace as things go pear-shaped (to put it mildly).  As Andy’s sentience and self-awareness grows, the confusion this create for the robot comes across beautifully and we have great sympathy for this new monster. Farries also directed the film and produced it (together with Emily Stanley).

Hats off, too, to the Frankenstein of the piece – Damien, played by Finn Macmillan who has the difficult job of delivering a lot of the film’s important expository detail through telephone dialogue.  I would have liked to have seen his character further developed – and this is another reason why to me this film feels like something originally much longer that has been cut down.  I don’t know if I am right there, but it didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the film and all the performances.  Still, for an AI genius, Damien does seem remarkably ignorant of Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics!

The comments under the film are overwhelmingly positive. The strongest recurring themes are that viewers found the film moving, unsettling and thought-provoking, with particular praise for the acting, especially Jane Merrow and Jason Farries, as well as the writing, pacing, production and sound. Several viewers were struck by how plausible the story feels as a prediction of where technology might be heading, while others loved the humour and Andy’s character and are already asking for a longer film or series. There’s also a lovely sense that the film genuinely affected people emotionally, with comments describing it as heartbreaking, brilliant, funny, and leaving them with “food for thought.” Even the few criticisms are minor and specific, such as the mechanical sound of Andy’s movements. I thought that too, but then I considered this. Modern electric and hybrid cars generally make artificial sounds at low speeds so pedestrians can hear them approaching.  This design feature would probably be incorporated into a robot to differentiate between it and a real human, as well as to enable humans to register its approach. So that would explain that...

Overall, the response suggests that Andy has connected with audiences not simply as a piece of science fiction, but as a human story that leaves people thinking about AI, ageing, companionship and where this technology could take us.  Thank you to everyone involved in this wonderful production – another example of how important independent filmmaking is and how it shouldn’t ever be underestimated.