Love Me

Love Me had the potential to be a little too precious in its storytelling — certainly there’s something profoundly cute about two robots falling in love, as any Wall-E fan will tell you. What keeps the narrative balanced is the raw bleakness of the setting.

It’s a sweeping, sweet and unique romance that works across different mediums to deliver something thoughtful that isn’t afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve.

Unfortunately, the film tends to underline its points, turning a clever idea into a fairly obvious one, and Love Me’s self-consciously innocent/sweet tone can become grating. But what holds the film together is the intelligence and commitment the two stars bring to this occasionally mawkish tale.

The emotion the Zucheros are trying to express and illustrate here is a deep, fathomless, infinite loneliness, and here and there, but more than once or twice, they hit their target.

By the time the movie arrives at its broadly sweet but emotionally hollow final scene, it seems clear that the Zucheros want the audience to feel everything, but all I felt was nothing.

It feels like a short that was expanded without enough thought for how it might work as a whole movie and by the end, even that curiosity has faded too.

Love Me isn’t bad in the sense that it is poorly assembled or incompetently shot. On a craft and technical level, it’s above average. But the narrative is incoherent and the philosophical meanderings lack depth and intelligence.

Love Me explores crucial themes like identity, what it means to be human, and influencer culture. But ultimately, it falls short on its message. What the film took 90 minutes to accomplish could have been done in the span of a short film. At least then it would be more forgivable that the film avoids making any large claims. Unlike other futuristic AI films, Love Me doesn’t paint these robots in an overtly good or bad light. It simply examines how AI might exist without humans. In the end, Love Me explores what it means to be real (not human, because the satellite and buoy still aren’t, but real, nonetheless). And, as the name would suggest, it sort of abstractly concludes that the ability to love and be loved is the answer.