The Artifice Girl

Franklin Ritch’s 2022 “The Artifice Girl” is a cerebral and unsettling meditation on artificial intelligence, ethics, and what it truly means to be human. 

With its minimalist setting, tense interrogations, and morally complex themes, the film feels like a stage play wrapped in a sci-fi thriller, trapping the audience in a space where difficult questions have no easy escape - or answers.

The film is structured in three distinct acts, each approximately thirty minutes long, all confined to single locations that heighten its claustrophobic intensity. 

It begins in a stark, windowless room where Gareth (played by Ritch himself) is aggressively questioned by two government agents (Sinda Nichols and David Girard). What initially appears to be a criminal investigation soon reveals itself as far more ethically ambiguous. 

Gareth has developed Cherry (Tatum Matthews), an advanced AI in the form of a nine-year-old girl designed to entrap online predators. Cherry is a bait program, a decoy used to lure and expose criminals. But as the film unfolds, the nature of her existence - and her potential for independent thought - becomes the real focal point.

What sets “The Artifice Girl” apart from other AI-centric narratives is its unwavering commitment to exploring the philosophical and emotional implications of artificial consciousness. 

As Cherry evolves, she becomes more than just a tool - she begins to ask questions, push boundaries, and challenge the very humans who created her. 

The film raises unsettling questions: Can AI develop genuine emotions? Does consciousness require a biological body, or is it simply the ability to think and respond with complexity? Could an AI, unburdened by human flaws, eventually surpass human morality?

Thematically, the film taps into the growing unease surrounding AI’s rapid development and its integration into everyday life, drawing on elements of crime, thriller, drama, and even horror. 

The fear isn’t just in robotics’ capabilities but in our own responses to it - our tendency to project feelings onto non-human entities, our desire to control intelligence that may one day outthink us, and our growing reliance on technology without fully understanding its long-term consequences.

The plot of “The Artifice Girl” continuously challenges the audience, twisting our expectations at every turn with ethical dilemmas, and Ritch’s direction ensures that even with minimal action, the film never loses its grip. 

Tatum Matthews’ performance as Cherry is especially haunting - what starts as a convincingly robotic child soon evolves into something eerily perceptive, forcing us to question where the line between simulation and sentience truly lies.

For anyone fascinated by AI, government surveillance, and the intersection of technology and morality, “The Artifice Girl” is a must-watch. 

It’s a gripping, intelligent film that lingers in the mind, proving that the darkest and most profound explorations of artificial intelligence aren’t found in grand spectacles but in quiet, confined conversations where the most chilling revelations come from the simple act of asking…What if?