If you lost a loved one but had a chance to bring them back, wouldn’t you risk everything to try and do that? Sci-fi short Red String of Fate—directed by Lance Fernandes and Lovina Yavari, and written by Onna Chan—manages to create a surprisingly gripping sci-fi tale in fewer than 10 minutes.
Thanks to a bit of exposition at the beginning, and a little more provided by news broadcasts, we know how high the stakes are in this world. But all that matters to Sam (Chan) is that she gets a particular android (Yavari), back online as fast as possible. Why? Well, she has a very good reason.
Here’s the official synopsis for Red String of Fate, which had its online premiere on Dust earlier today: “Deep into a civil war between humans and androids, the world is divided between those that believe androids with artificial intelligence (AI) deserve human rights, and those that believe otherwise. While most people are just trying to survive the war with their lives intact, Sam, an inexperienced engineer, is determined to save her partner, Dani, a noble human soldier who falls injured while fighting for AI android rights. Desperate to bring Dani back to life, Sam manages to capture Dani’s soul before it has left their body and begins an experimental procedure that merges Dani’s soul with a malfunctioning android, X72. It is only through this act of outrageous political defiance that Sam will be able to preserve Dani’s consciousness.”
The fact that Red String of Fate takes place within a single room is all the more impressive, given that high-concept plot; the intimate details, like the unexpectedly sentimental association with ramen flavor packets, really help flesh out the characters—and make you wonder where their story has been, and where it’s going next.
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