Director: Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe
Writers: Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe
Release Date: 2021
Foxfire Category: Junk Food
MPAA Rating: PG
One-line Review: The fifth commandment explored through apocalyptic comedy
Most of the movies on Foxfire Recommends have been out long enough for the blu-ray to collect some dust. This Netflix orignal movie, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, has only been out for about a month at the time of this writing.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines is a tightly structured, highly entertaining family drama. Katie is literally on her way out the door to college when she finds her plane tickets have been cancelled and the station wagon loaded for a road trip. This is Rick Mitchell’s last-minute, last-ditch effort to fix his broken relationship with his daughter before she leaves forever. He’s possessive of his daughter and wonders whether film school will pay the bills. Katie buckles herself and her bad attitude into the backseat of the famly station wagon, complaining about all she’s missing by skipping orientation at her new school.
Thanks to some prodding from her mom and brother, she begins to turn that frown upside down. All seems to be on the upswing when the Zuckerberg of the film releases a new phone upgrade. Goodbye, Siri. Hello, iRobot. The tech giant assures us that these robots will never ever, ever, ever turn evil. Spoiler. They turn evil—before the update announcement is finished. That’s not really a spoiler since the title promises the showdown between these robots and the Mitchell Family. But the pressures of saving the world so she can get back to college reveal that Katie’s issues with her dad go much deeper than just her attitude. She needs to submit to the fifth commandment: to honor her father and her mother.
Alongside the family drama, the film also explores the interesting sub-theme of digital technology. Artificial intelligence destroys the world but also allows Katie avenues for creativity. The Robot invasion threatens to disconnect the family forever but in the end is used to connect the family with Katie when she arrives at college. Since this theme is not given priority, many of these questions are left unanswered. But in a film that is primarily centered on a father-daughter relationship, that is to be expected.
The film has a charming aesthetic and an extremely rewarding finale (WARNING: your kids and you might be singing “Live Your Life” non-stop for a couple weeks after watching). It also contains the most inventive and beautiful ending credits sequence I’ve ever seen. If you have netflix and need a movie the whole family can enjoy, I commend to you “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.”