Archive (film)

Archive
Film poster
Directed by	Gavin Rothery
Written by	Gavin Rothery
Produced by	Cora Palfrey Philip Herd Theo James
Starring	Theo James Stacy Martin Rhona Mitra Peter Ferdinando Richard Glover Lia Williams Toby Jones
Cinematography	Laurie Rose
Edited by	Adam Biskupski
Music by	Steven Price
Production companies	Independent Films Head Gear Films Untapped Films
Distributed by	Vertical Entertainment
Release dates	10 July 2020 (2020-07-10) (United States) 18 January 2021 (2021-01-18) (United Kingdom)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$242,195[1]

Archive is a 2020 British science fiction film written and directed by Gavin Rothery, in his directorial debut. It stars Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra, Peter Ferdinando and Toby Jones. Set in year 2038, the film follows a scientist who is trying to advance artificial intelligence a step further than human beings, all while bringing his wife back from the dead.

The film was originally set to premiere at South by Southwest in March 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It instead received a digital release with limited screenings in theatres around the United States on 10 July 2020.^[2]

Plot[]

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*Contains spoilers

2038: George Almore is working on a true human-equivalent AI, and his latest prototype is almost ready. This sensitive phase is also the riskiest as he has a goal that must be hidden at all costs—being reunited with his dead wife Jules, who had died in a car accident years ago. His wife's consciousness is stored in a device that, according to the sales pitch, will allow up to 200 hours of interaction with the deceased. His work also includes updates to a previously abandoned facility that requires upgrades to the security system. His work is aided by his second prototype, J2. Almore is visited by a team from Archive who perform an inspection of the device. They note that the security seal is broken and threaten legal action. Almore points out that they are on his company's property and hints at legal repercussions of a confrontation, and the Archive team backs off and leaves. J2 is shown to be quite sophisticated, but as Almore reveals, it has developed the brain of a 15-year-old, and will develop no further. J2 is aware of his work on a third prototype and has become jealous, which leads to increasingly unpredictable behavior. Meanwhile, the J3 android is ready and begins to move and interact with completely human movements, responses, and emotions. Almore gets a call from his boss who indicates that he may be in trouble for his actions during the Archive team's visit. He assures her that she has nothing to worry about. J2, confronted with the realization that she will never be anything more or better than she already is, destroys herself by walking into a lake. This eventually prompts another call from the boss with an indication that a team is on the way to shut down his research. Almore makes the final call to his wife on the Archive machine, and ends the call saying "see you soon." J3 overhears this and realizes her purpose, and that her own consciousness will be overwritten by that of his wife who will then live on in her body. Initially angered and afraid, she accepts her fate and the memory download is completed as the team storms the compound. At this point, any sign of the exterior team suddenly evaporates, and all is calm. The Archive starts ringing with one more incoming call from his wife. J3 implores him not to answer, but he does and speaks to his wife; we hear a child in the background. In a plot twist, we find that George is the one who died while his wife is raising their child in the real world.

Cast[]

• Theo James as George Almore
• Stacy Martin as Jules Almore/J3, George's wife
  • Martin also provides the voice for the robot J2
• Rhona Mitra as Simone, VP of Internal Development at Artisan Robotics
• Peter Ferdinando as Mr. Tagg
• Richard Glover as Melvin, an associate of Vincent Sinclair
• Hans Peterson as Elson
• Lia Williams as the voice system of George's house
• Toby Jones as Vincent Sinclair, an executive of the Archive company

Production[]

On 14 May 2017, it was announced that concept and graphic artist Gavin Rothery, who had worked with Duncan Jones on his first feature, Moon, would write and direct Archive with Theo James set to star.^[3] On 31 October 2018, Philip Herd and Cora Helfrey of Independent joined as producers for the project, with Stacy Martin starring opposite Theo James. James also brought on his production label, Untapped, and would be producing alongside Andrew D. Corkin.^[4][5] Vertical Entertainment later acquired the distribution rights for the U.S, with the international rights currently up for sale.^[6]

Principal photography began in Hungary in late October 2018 and ended in February 2019.^[7] Laurie Rose served as director of photography.^[4]

Release[]

The film was released on 10 July 2020 on digital streaming platforms by Vertical Entertainment after it was pulled from South by Southwest in March 2020 which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited screenings were also available in various theatres around the U.S. The film was released on 13 August 2020 in Russia in 260 screens and was number 5 at the box office charts in its opening weekend.

Critical response[]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Archive holds an approval rating of 77% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.^[8] The site's critical consensus reads, "Archive executes its fairly basic program efficiently, offering sci-fi fans an engaging meditation on love and human nature." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of score of 67 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."^[9]

Accolades[]

References[]

External links[]

• Archive at IMDb
• Archive at Rotten Tomatoes