Simulant is such a retread of other movies, I was perturbed when I couldn’t find it when I accidentally typed in “Replicant”. But here we are… a run-of-the-mill robot/AI sci-fi flick with a premise previously scene earlier this year in Robots (the rom-com version of the plot).

Simulant is about a near future where robots are our servants and there are cops (legally distinct from – and definitely not – Blade Runners) tracking down the ones acting out. There’s also a wife and husband story and a malcontent who wants to bring down the system.

It’s not a bad version of one of these movies… though early scenes did try my patience. Things get a little better even if they are playing some pretty bog standard games of “what is human?”. It doesn’t really have any original ideas nor does it make strong arguments about AI… just some pretty standard stuff (plus some over-scored action scenes).

The cast is better than expected with Jordana Brewster, Robbie Amell, Sam Worthington, and Simu Liu trying to prove they can work outside their more famous franchises. They do a fine enough job. I rather liked Liu’s performance.

Biggest problem is the world-building. They do a pretty mediocre job of establishing the rules of the world. If the robots are basically slaves why do some seem to be living average every-day lives? What would the repercussions be if they were freed? Would society crumble? Feels like I missed some exposition… maybe I did?

Overall, it’s a decent sci-fi flick if you go in with lowered expectations and ignore the better versions of these ideas. Because there are better versions… but there are also worse versions. It’s serviceable.

Score: 76