Her? **Who's her? **Noooo Her. It’s a film
Oh, right. What’s it about? Well it’s written, produced and directed by Spike Jonze; the mainstream film world’s go-to indie guy behind films like Adaption, Being John Malkovich and Where The Wild Things Are.
And? Well Joaquin Phoenix plays a guy in the near future who’s struggling to come to terms with parting from his wife. Then one day he downloads a new operating system to his computer and snazzy little flip phone that looks like a cigarette case.
Is that it? Thrilling stuff. No. This particular OS is a bit more advanced than iOS7. It talks! It learns emotions! It learns how to love!
Really? So is this like a sci-fi film? Well yes. But no. It is science fiction in the fact that it's set in the future and it's about technology, but it's absolutely not in the way that it's a totally recognisable future; one that isn't all that much more advanced than our own. Also, it's not really about technology, it's about love.
So Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with his computer? No, a computer system. And you're massively oversimplifying things.
So do they like, have sex and stuff? Does he 'plug himself in' to her hardrive? Oh, jolly good. So much of our life already takes place online - is it really that crazy to think that one day your whole sex life might too?
**Hmm, s'pose not. **Yeah, worrying isn't it...
What are the grown-up critics saying?
Total Film: 'Though Her’s scenario isn’t exactly an everyday one, the pain, joy and fear that Jonze depicts feels universal. The shifting power dynamic between Theo and Samantha as she begins to dream and hope and move beyond her programming feels painfully authentic.'
Variety: 'Spike Jonze's fourth feature offers a singular, wryly funny and subtly profound consideration of our relationship to technology.'
New York Times: 'This is a movie you want to reach out and caress, about a man who, like everyone else around him in this near future, has retreated from other people into a machine world. In Her, the great question isn’t whether machines can think, but whether human beings can still feel.'
What Are We Saying? It's actually a really beautiful love story. The concept might sound hilarious but so many of the technological components to the film are just basic progressions of gadgets we already own, so it's easy to relate to what ten years ago would have been an unthinkable situation. Added to which, it looks amazing. Rather than the lycra spandex space suits normally worn in films about the future there's muted pastels on conservative libraian-style clothes. The architecture and design make the sets beautiful to look at and the music - by Arcade Fire - is totally brilliant. It's touching, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Go forth and see.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.