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My real job is with an IT and Business Training company who builds AI classes for Teams across any sector of business. I had been practicing being moderator for an upcoming AI Copilot webinar moments before heading to the theater to watch this doc – so it all felt rather immersive.

The documentary follows a soon-to-be father grappling with a question that feels both existential and oddly domestic: what kind of world will his child inherit if AI continues advancing at its current breakneck pace? Will artificial intelligence become humanity’s greatest tool, or the invention we wish we’d never switched on?

This will hardly be the definitive doc on AI with things moving at the speed of light, but it’s the first, I believe, with a wide theatrical release. The directors, Daniel Roher (dir. Navalny) and Charlie Tyrell got to interview an impressive number of important talking heads in the field of AI – Sam Altman: CEO of OpenAI; Demis Hassabis: CEO of Google DeepMind; Dario Amodei: CEO and co-founder of Anthropic; Tristan Harris & Aza Raskin: Center for Humane Technology and more… Of course, neither of two aliens among us – Mark Zuckerberg nor Elon Musk are in the film, Zuckerberg refused and Musk never made time.

Despite all the interviews, the doc never feels cold or clinical. True, the critic next to me slept through more than half the film, but I found it intriguing. Roher’s Illustrations and stop-motion animation effects, flush out the between moments. And although it starts with the most obvious question “What is AI?” It’s really through the lens of this young couple Daniel Roher and his wife Kari Teicher, that we peel back the layers of Artificial Intelligence. The two have not been married very long, after a very quick courtship, and now they are with child. Making Roher’s parental anxiety his guiding light through the labyrinth of AI optimism and doom-saying, interviewing researchers, futurists, and industry insiders who seem split between two camps: those convinced AI will usher in a golden age of innovation, and those quietly wondering if we’ve already opened Pandora’s laptop.

The AI Doc doesn’t pretend the answer is simple. Some voices predict AI will cure disease, solve climate change, and unlock unimaginable creative potential. Others caution that once machines surpass human intelligence, we may not be the ones steering the ship anymore. The film never fully resolves this debate, but that tension is precisely what gives it its pulse. The tone often shifts between wonder and unease — sometimes within the same conversation.

Perhaps the most revealing takeaway is that the story isn’t really about machines at all. It’s about human ambition, human fear, and our uncanny habit of inventing things faster than we can decide how to live with them.

Which brings us back to the delicious meta moment of this review. A film questioning the future of AI… partially interpreted through AI. If that makes you uneasy, congratulations — you’re already thinking exactly the way The AI Doc hopes you will. Welcome to apocaloptimism. Rating: 3.5 outta 5

Naturally, much of the audience’s affection will center on the humorous, heartwarming friendship that forms between Grace (Ryan Gosling) and Rocky (James Ortiz), the alien engineer from another star system facing the same existential crisis as Earth. Their partnership is at the core – an inter-species buddy dynamic that becomes the emotional backbone of the story.

Yet, for me, the film’s most intriguing presence isn’t Rocky, but Eva Stratt, played with steely intelligence by Sandra Hüller. Stratt is the architect of the Hail Mary mission, a woman burdened with the terrifying responsibility of making decisions that affect the fate of billions. Hüller plays her with a controlled intensity that never slips into villainy. Stratt isn’t heartless; she’s simply pragmatic in a way most of us hope we’ll never have to be. She understands that saving humanity requires choices that may destroy individual lives, and she doesn’t flinch from that responsibility. In many ways, she’s the film’s true embodiment of leadership. And her Harry Styles “Sign of the Times” karaoke scene is one of the film’s best moments.

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller balance the film’s scientific exposition with their trademark sense of humor and rhythm, allowing Grace’s confusion and reluctant curiosity to guide the audience through the narrative rather than burying us in jargon.

Adapted from Andy Weir’s beloved sci-fi novel, the film delivers the kind of grand-scale storytelling that manages to be both cosmic in scope and deeply human in its concerns. Much like Weir’s previous big-screen success “The Martian”, this film thrives on problem-solving, scientific ingenuity, and the resilience of one very overwhelmed protagonist. But where “The Martian” leaned into survivalist swagger, “Project Hail Mary” is more introspective, exploring the psychology of heroism just as much as the mechanics of saving the planet.

This is where the film becomes most relatable, through Ryland Grace’s resistance to becoming the hero the situation demands. When he’s first approached about the mysterious astrophage organism, Grace doesn’t leap at the opportunity to get involved. And later when it’s determined he’s got to be one of the three going to space for this mission, he recoils from it. His hesitation isn’t simply about the terrifying reality that he will never return to Earth and will almost certainly die in space. What he’s really running from is imposter syndrome – a deep, gnawing doubt in his own abilities to handle something so monumental.

Grace doesn’t see himself as a savior; he sees himself as a guy who teaches kids about molecules and runs the occasional classroom experiment. The idea that he could be responsible for the survival of Earth feels absurd to him. That internal struggle gives the film its emotional authenticity. Heroism here isn’t about confidence or bravado—it’s about pushing forward despite the crippling suspicion that you’re not the right person for the job.

While the astrophysics and alien encounter are significant, the real drama lies in watching an ordinary man (although highly educated) accept the extraordinary responsibility placed upon him. And in that sense, the film’s biggest triumph isn’t its spectacle or an adorable, faceless companion, but humanity itself.

Rating: 4 outta 5

When I saw “The Drama”, it was before the leaked spoilers, the outrage from a Columbine parent, and the renewed scrutiny surrounding writer-director Kristoffer Borgli after an old essay about a past relationship with a 16 year-old resurfaced (legal in Norway). So I was able to watch the film on its own terms, without baggage or expectation. I hadn’t assumed it was going to be a rom/com or wholly romantic, based on the title.

This couple Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson), have an adorable meet cute at a coffee shop, where Charlie pretends he’s read the book Emma is reading. He tries to strike up a conversation about it, which Emma ignores – shortly you find out it’s because she’s deaf in one ear, an affliction which has later significance. We skip forward as they become a lovely Boston couple, living together in a comfy flat, preparing for their upcoming wedding; which includes a wine tasting with their Best Man and Matron of Honor, Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie). The actual “drama” unfolds so naturally you almost don’t register at first that it’s going to become the focal point of the story, until it does.

The detonation of their relationship arrives less like a plot twist and more like a slow psychological infection. Borgli doesn’t rush the fallout; he lets it metastasize in long, uncomfortable stretches of conversation, silence, and behavioral shifts that feel just slightly off. Pattinson, in particular, thrives in this space—his knack for unraveling men who don’t fully understand themselves becomes the film’s quiet engine. Zendaya’s Emma resists the urge to be confrontational, too apologetic or fall apart, but instead internalizes the fracture, pressing forward with wedding plans despite the signs that Charlie is having second thoughts.

By the time the credits roll, The Drama hasn’t so much told a love story as it has dissected one – laying bare not just the fragility of relationships, but something darker and more insidious simmering within a very specific stain on American society. Rating: 4 outta 5