Her
In Spike Jonze’s offbeat, near-future romance, a newly-divorced man named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) rebounds by falling in love with his computer operating system, which is powered by Samantha, an alluring AI (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). In the world of Her, human-AI “romances” aren’t totally uncommon—which is understandable considering how manic-pixie-dreamgirl perfect Samantha turns out to be—but neither are they totally accepted, a point of view that comes through when Theodore’s incredulous ex-wife makes fun of him for “dating a computer.”
We know from the start that there’s no real future for Theodore and Samantha, for obvious reasons—though the fantasy almost feels real for most of the movie, and their eventual breakup (for the surprising reason that Samantha, along with countless other AIs, has evolved too far beyond her intended purpose) has real, relatable poignancy. (Rent on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu)
