Wifelike

Wifelike is a 2022 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by James Bird and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Elena Kampouris. Plot In the future, the company "Wifelike" creates expensive artificial android replicas of dead women for their widowers. The companions are subservient to their respective owners while gradually developing consciousness. S.C.A.I.R., a group of militant activists, seek to destroy the company for their AI exploitation, seeing the companions as contemporary slaves. A branch of their group is committing terrorist acts to accomplish their mission; these supposedly involve stealing the robots from their wealthy owners, reprogramming them, and using them to perform various kinds of crimes, including bombing buildings. The police are unable to locate their mysterious leader, nicknamed "the Ringmaster". William Bradwell, a seasoned policeman, works in finding stolen androids and returning them home. He orders one made to resemble his deceased love, Meredith. Once activated, the companion starts learning about Meredith to become more like her. According to William, Meredith used to be a S.C.A.I.R activist, until she fell in love with him, abandoned her cause, and they got married. However, this is not the first time that William has been through this process with a Meredith replica, as previous iterations of her have already been stolen by S.C.A.I.R. and recovered by him, with her memory of the experience being wiped every time. While becoming more like Meredith, William's companion starts dreaming about a masked man who claims to know her from before her last memory wipe. She also starts receiving visits from Louise, a member of S.C.A.I.R. who seems to have talked to the companion's previous iterations. Meanwhile, William discovers that some of the companions have joined S.C.A.I.R. on their own accord to escape their male owners. One of them kills herself after William finds her, not wanting to lose her memory and return to the role of a subservient wife.