(2021) The House/ Das Haus (In German with English subtitles) SCIENCE FICTION POLITICAL THRILLER

Adapted from the short story by Dirk Kurbjuweit, co-written and directed by Rick Ostermann that has husband, Johann Hellström (Tobias Moretti) and his wife, Lucia Hellström (Valery Tscheplanowa) just arriving to their home located at an isolated island, And what is unique about the home is that it does things by command, simply by talking to it, in the same tradition as HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey". In the midst of all of this is some militia group clashing with the gov't in regarding of a terrorist act. And it is presumed that it was a young couple by the names of Layla (Lisa Vicari) and her boyfriend, Alex (Max von der Groeben) who committed the act, except that by the time they arrive they denied they even did any such thing.

A little of "Demon Seed", "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "Forbidden Planet" with no new surprises.

The opening scenes are the house becoming awake, with vacuums being sent out, drapes opening, etc. Johann, who wrote a political piece is in trouble. The government didn't like it, and so he gets fired. The government is heading into an election, and is getting very repressive. Johann and Lucia travel by autonomous water taxi to the house, which is on an island. The house responds to Johann, knowing where he is, what he wants, etc. So he doesn't even have to open a door. Water in the shower can be controlled through verbal commands. Even a glass of water is tailored to the person, with supplements. There is a glitch, and a technician is summoned, and he explains the system cannot be hacked, as it is isolated. The system is represented as a red sphere, perhaps an homage to the HAL computer. But is was set up for Johann, so it knows him, but he didn't include Lucia, so the house is learning about her. And something happens that Lucia was aware of, but Johann was in the dark, and that is part of the drama. The house is very interesting in itself. The movie is somewhat interesting, but very forgettable.