Gavin Rothery’s Archive had everything needed for sci-fi greatness: stunning cinematography, brilliant performances from Theo James and Stacy Martin, and profound questions about AI consciousness that feel eerily relevant today. George’s obsessive quest to resurrect his dead wife Jules through increasingly sophisticated AI iterations creates genuine emotional investment and explores the ethics of creating synthetic life.
But then comes the ending, a devastating “it was all a dream” twist that obliterates 90 minutes of masterful storytelling. This isn’t just a weak conclusion; it’s a complete betrayal of audience trust that transforms a potential classic into a cautionary tale about narrative promises. Archive proves that even the most compelling premise can’t survive cinema’s most insulting trope. Read More …