Motion Detected (2023) – Film Review
Motion Detected is an indie movie produced by Asterlight Productions. Neither a spine-tingler nor a slasher movie, it’s unlikely to appeal to most fans of the horror genre but may scare the bejesus out of viewers who are nervous about modern technology that incorporates AI.
The film is about a Mexican couple, Eva and Miguel Diaz, who move from Mexico City to Los Angeles, California, where they rent a luxury home with a state-of-the-art security system installed by a company called Diablo, a name that hints the technology is going to be bad news.
The move was not without good reason. While living in Mexico, Eva (Natasha Esca) had a close shave with a masked killer, dubbed El Diablo by the press, who broke into their home and held a knife to her throat. For reasons unknown, he spared her life, promising he would return. Eva is the only person to survive a run-in with El Diablo and, not surprisingly, the encounter caused her to have a mental breakdown. Now off her meds. she is doing better and Miguel (Carlo Mendez) believes the move will place her out of the killer’s reach. As a plus, their new home is in a quiet neighbourhood and the AI-powered security system will provide an additional safety net.
To call Diablo a security system downplays its abilities. In addition to controlling the lock on the front door and detecting intruders via motion detectors, Diablo also controls the blinds on the windows and even provides a cheery early morning wake-up call via the speakers that appear to be installed in every room of the house.
Although Eva and Miguel probably are not aware of the level of monitoring and intervention the system is capable of, Diablo can also measure their heart rate and brainwave activity, along with spying on their telecommunications activities.
Early scenes make it clear Miguel thinks the world of Eva but he could be accused of putting his work before his wife because on the day they move in, he informs her he has to fly back to Mexico on business, that very night, and will be gone for five days.
Eva is in an unfamiliar house, in a foreign country, and has yet to learn how to control the Diablo security system, so she isn’t comfortable with the situation. Nevertheless, she doesn’t stand in her husband’s way and is home alone for most of the film.
Can a machine have evil intentions? That certainly appears to be the case with Diablo and Eva soon comes to believe the system is out to get her. Even after she has set the passcode, she has trouble arming and disarming the system when she wants to use the front door. She also gets repeated “Motion Detected” warnings for various rooms of her home, though nobody is there. Perhaps more worrying still, when she reviews the security cam footage, Eva sees what could best be described as an electronic ghost on the stairs.
When Eva learns the previous family that lived in her home vanished overnight, it only makes the situation worse and Diablo helps pile on the tension by intercepting and deleting a message from Miguel, causing Eva to become angry at her husband and ignore her doctor’s advice to stay away from alcohol.
Motion Detected is a pretty decent film that’s a little like an updated version of the 1977 sci-fi horror film Demon Seed. In both films, a young wife is left home alone at the mercy of a hi-tech computer system. However, Demon Seed provides viewers with a good insight into what is going on and why. Motion Detected does not. The film fails to explain the system’s behaviour or abilities, resulting in an ending that’s acceptable but far from fulfilling.
The acting in the film is more than acceptable, with most of the poorer scenes being due to script issues rather than poor-quality acting. However, the conversation scenes between Eva and Miguel are likely to annoy many viewers due to the rapid and totally unnecessary switching from one language to another and the need for appropriate subtitles.
When they begin their conversations in Spanish and switch back to English, it seems unnatural, drawing attention to the fact that a real-life Mexican couple would not use English when they are alone or talking over the phone.
Having said that, although her English is perfect, Natasha Esca’s voice sounds much better when she’s speaking Spanish so I still enjoyed listening to the brief interactions in Spanish. But I speak Spanish, viewers who do not will find the language switches doubly annoying.
The scene where Eva hits the bottle, ramps up the music, and starts having a one-girl party in her home also has questionable value and seems out of sync with the rest of the film. It’s certainly entertaining and many viewers may enjoy all the sexy dancing but it’s a bit over the top and adds no real value.
Overall, if you’re into technological horror, Motion Detected has far more good points than bad points and is definitely worth watching. With no blood or gore, it’s also a good choice for those who don’t normally watch horror films and want to add a little variety to their viewing experiences.