Franklin Ritch has been throwing audiences into existential turmoil with his debut feature, "The Artifice Girl," a character-driven film in three parts that centers on the ethics behind the humans creating and helping evolve AI-generated, responsive personalities. The film is by no means the first to tackle the ever-expanding landscape of artificial intelligence, but rather than take an action-packed approach like "I, Robot," his intimate piece of speculative fiction is far more interested in the ways our humanity is reflected by AI, for better and worse.
The Best International Feature Audience Award at the 2022 Fantasia Film Festival feels like a spiritual successor to Philip K. Dick's dystopian science-fiction novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which became the basis for Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," mixed with the intimate tension of "12 Angry Men." Ironically, there's a "Juror #8" joke in "The Artifice Girl," a clear sign that Ritch was...
The Best International Feature Audience Award at the 2022 Fantasia Film Festival feels like a spiritual successor to Philip K. Dick's dystopian science-fiction novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which became the basis for Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," mixed with the intimate tension of "12 Angry Men." Ironically, there's a "Juror #8" joke in "The Artifice Girl," a clear sign that Ritch was...
- 5/30/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Stars: Sinda Nichols, David Girard, Franklin Ritch, Tatum Matthews, Lance Henriksen | Written and Directed by Franklin Ritch
The press release and IMDb page for The Artifice Girl describe it like this “ A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.” It’s also tagged “Mystery” “Sci-Fi” and “Thriller”. Sounds like a potentially exciting crime film with some topical AI elements, right? Not exactly.
Deena is asking Siri the difference between right and wrong. Unsurprisingly her virtual assistant doesn’t have an answer. Her partner Amos arrives with Gareth, played by The Artifice Girl’s writer/director Franklin Ritch. It seems the two agents want to ask him some questions about some pictures found on his computer.
That’s when he drops a bombshell on them.
The press release and IMDb page for The Artifice Girl describe it like this “ A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.” It’s also tagged “Mystery” “Sci-Fi” and “Thriller”. Sounds like a potentially exciting crime film with some topical AI elements, right? Not exactly.
Deena is asking Siri the difference between right and wrong. Unsurprisingly her virtual assistant doesn’t have an answer. Her partner Amos arrives with Gareth, played by The Artifice Girl’s writer/director Franklin Ritch. It seems the two agents want to ask him some questions about some pictures found on his computer.
That’s when he drops a bombshell on them.
- 5/11/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
The horror movie to go see in theaters right now is Evil Dead Rise, but a brand new horror movie is being unleashed in theaters this week to give the franchise a little genre competition.
And it’s one of Seven new horror movies releasing this week…
Here’s all the new horror releasing April 25 – April 30, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
After scaring up $168 million worldwide, Scream VI just arrived for purchase on Digital Today, and Bloody Disgusting has also learned this week that Scream VI will be unleashed on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 11, 2023.
Meagan wrote in her review of Scream VI, “This slasher sequel lets a ruthless Ghostface loose in the city, slicing up an intense, flawless entry that continues the streak of insightful introspection while escalating the thrills, kills, humor, and heart to a breathless degree.
And it’s one of Seven new horror movies releasing this week…
Here’s all the new horror releasing April 25 – April 30, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
After scaring up $168 million worldwide, Scream VI just arrived for purchase on Digital Today, and Bloody Disgusting has also learned this week that Scream VI will be unleashed on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 11, 2023.
Meagan wrote in her review of Scream VI, “This slasher sequel lets a ruthless Ghostface loose in the city, slicing up an intense, flawless entry that continues the streak of insightful introspection while escalating the thrills, kills, humor, and heart to a breathless degree.
- 4/25/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
This debut feature dissects the ethical dilemmas that arise when an AI is used to entrap paedophiles, but it fails to translate its ideas into a cogent argument
Probing the ethical implications surrounding the use of AI, Franklin Ritch’s debut feature hinges on a high-concept premise: an entirely digital avatar of a young girl named Cherry (Tatum Matthews) is used as bait to trap paedophiles in online chatrooms. Without the signature spectacle of the sci-fi genre, The Artifice Girl is a markedly low-key and small-scale endeavour, steeped in philosophical musings that ultimately seem stagey rather than cinematic.
Divided into three chapters spanning decades, the film moves through a series of single locations. It starts in a police interrogation room where Ritch’s Gareth, Cherry’s creator, is questioned by Deena (Sinda Nichols) and Amos (David Girard), members of a taskforce combatting child sexual abuse. Once Gareth reveals Cherry is a virtual being,...
Probing the ethical implications surrounding the use of AI, Franklin Ritch’s debut feature hinges on a high-concept premise: an entirely digital avatar of a young girl named Cherry (Tatum Matthews) is used as bait to trap paedophiles in online chatrooms. Without the signature spectacle of the sci-fi genre, The Artifice Girl is a markedly low-key and small-scale endeavour, steeped in philosophical musings that ultimately seem stagey rather than cinematic.
Divided into three chapters spanning decades, the film moves through a series of single locations. It starts in a police interrogation room where Ritch’s Gareth, Cherry’s creator, is questioned by Deena (Sinda Nichols) and Amos (David Girard), members of a taskforce combatting child sexual abuse. Once Gareth reveals Cherry is a virtual being,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
‘The Artifice Girl’ Review: A Thought-Provoking Speculative Drama About AI Bait For Online Predators
Artificial Intelligence has been increasingly in the news of late, with observers worried that it will soon become difficult for teachers to tell if students actually completed a project themselves (or a program did it for them), for anyone to recognize whether a supposed breaking evidential video is in fact a deepfake, and so forth. “The Artifice Girl,” however, frames the problems raised by ever-growing technological sophistication in a familiar narrative framework: that of the machine intelligence that begins to surpass its human “masters.”
Unlike portrayals from “2001” to “Ex Machina” and beyond, however, Franklin Ritch’s debut feature does not treat that dynamic in thriller terms, as a hostile takeover. Instead, this smaller-scaled speculative fiction is more concerned with ethics, as pondered in a series of dialogue sequences that aren’t static but might also have worked on stage, and require nothing in the way of FX. The results may...
Unlike portrayals from “2001” to “Ex Machina” and beyond, however, Franklin Ritch’s debut feature does not treat that dynamic in thriller terms, as a hostile takeover. Instead, this smaller-scaled speculative fiction is more concerned with ethics, as pondered in a series of dialogue sequences that aren’t static but might also have worked on stage, and require nothing in the way of FX. The results may...
- 4/24/2023
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Multi-hyphenate writer, director, and star Franklin Ritch introduces a science fiction chamber piece in The Artifice Girl, a heady thriller centered around advanced tech. The inciting mystery initially presents as a high-concept thriller but soon gives way to a deceptively complex and affecting sci-fi parable. It’s in the measured layering of complicated character work and ethical conundrums that Ritch’s feature eventually finds its magic.
The Artifice Girl begins as a contained crime thriller set in an interrogation room. Within, special agents Deena (Sinda Nichols) and Amos (David Girard) aggressively cross examine their suspect, Gareth (Ritch), about both his career and online activities. The interrogation leads the agents to deduce the savvy tech guru Gareth of dabbling in pedophilia, specifically in monitoring and baiting predators with a young preteen girl named Cherry (Tatum Matthews). It turns out they’re not too far off; Gareth is indeed using Cherry as...
The Artifice Girl begins as a contained crime thriller set in an interrogation room. Within, special agents Deena (Sinda Nichols) and Amos (David Girard) aggressively cross examine their suspect, Gareth (Ritch), about both his career and online activities. The interrogation leads the agents to deduce the savvy tech guru Gareth of dabbling in pedophilia, specifically in monitoring and baiting predators with a young preteen girl named Cherry (Tatum Matthews). It turns out they’re not too far off; Gareth is indeed using Cherry as...
- 4/20/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Universal Pictures will Release Blumhouse’s Five Nights At Freddy’S on Friday, October 27, 2023: "Can you survive five nights?
The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse— the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man—joins forces with legendary game creator Scott Cawthon for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
Starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Kat Conner Sterling, Piper Rubio and Mary Stuart Masterson. Five Nights at Freddy’s is directed by Emma Tammi and is written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi and Seth Cuddeback.
The film’s iconic animatronic characters will be created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.Five Nights...
The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse— the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man—joins forces with legendary game creator Scott Cawthon for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
Starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Kat Conner Sterling, Piper Rubio and Mary Stuart Masterson. Five Nights at Freddy’s is directed by Emma Tammi and is written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi and Seth Cuddeback.
The film’s iconic animatronic characters will be created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.Five Nights...
- 4/7/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
"She's one of the most complex A.I.s that's ever been created." XYZ Films has unveiled an official trailer for The Artifice Girl, an indie sci-fi thriller by filmmaker Franklin Ritch making his feature directorial debut. This premiered at the 2022 Fantastic Film Festival last year, and stopped by SXSW and Glasgow last month, with a release set for the end of April. "The Artifice Girl delivers a tense and morally cryptic experience that will leave a microchip-shaped imprint on your brain." A group of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program that uses Artificial Intelligence to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program's troubled developer, they soon find that the program is advancing much faster than they could have imagined, resulting in unsettling consequences for the future of technology and mankind. "While this is a wildly ambitious science fiction, it was important for us...
- 4/4/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
She’s not real. She’s more than that. Winner of “Best International Feature” at Fantasia Film Festival 2022, the sci-fi movie The Artifice Girl will be releasing at home later this month.
The film comes to theaters, On Demand and Digital on April 27, 2023.
Meet The Artifice Girl in the official trailer below.
Franklin Ritch wrote the directed the acclaimed sci-fi thriller.
In the film, “A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.”
Tatum Matthews, David Girard, Sinda Nichols, Franklin Ritch, and Lance Henriksen star.
The post ‘The Artifice Girl’ Trailer – Award-Winning Science Fiction Movie Looks Like a Darker Version of ‘M3GAN’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The film comes to theaters, On Demand and Digital on April 27, 2023.
Meet The Artifice Girl in the official trailer below.
Franklin Ritch wrote the directed the acclaimed sci-fi thriller.
In the film, “A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.”
Tatum Matthews, David Girard, Sinda Nichols, Franklin Ritch, and Lance Henriksen star.
The post ‘The Artifice Girl’ Trailer – Award-Winning Science Fiction Movie Looks Like a Darker Version of ‘M3GAN’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 4/4/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Exclusive: XYZ Films has claimed North American rights to the sci-fi pic The Artifice Girl, starring Tatum Matthews (The Waltons: Homecoming) and Lance Henriksen (Aliens), which this past weekend had its U.S. premiere at SXSW after world premiering to critical acclaim at Fantasia Film Festival.
The film marking the feature debut of writer-director Franklin Ritch — which like Uni’s horror hit M3GAN, looks at the increasingly top-of-mind subject of AI through a genre prism — is slated for a theatrical release in 15+ U.S. Markets, as well as an accompanying digital debut this spring.
Related Story Oliver Stone Documentary ‘Nuclear Now’ Acquired By Abramorama, Giant Pictures Related Story Netflix Hops On 'Run Rabbit Run', Acquires XYZ Films Sundance Midnight Title Starring Sarah Snook Related Story Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead's Rustic Films Teams With V Channels & XYZ On Genre Slate
The Artifice Girl follows a small team of...
The film marking the feature debut of writer-director Franklin Ritch — which like Uni’s horror hit M3GAN, looks at the increasingly top-of-mind subject of AI through a genre prism — is slated for a theatrical release in 15+ U.S. Markets, as well as an accompanying digital debut this spring.
Related Story Oliver Stone Documentary ‘Nuclear Now’ Acquired By Abramorama, Giant Pictures Related Story Netflix Hops On 'Run Rabbit Run', Acquires XYZ Films Sundance Midnight Title Starring Sarah Snook Related Story Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead's Rustic Films Teams With V Channels & XYZ On Genre Slate
The Artifice Girl follows a small team of...
- 3/14/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Holy hell this year’s SXSW Film Festival really isn’t messing around.
The previous announcement unveiled a stacked horror lineup that includes headiners Evil Dead Rise and opener Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
In addition, they revealed several prominent horror titles that will premiere as part of the Midnighters program, including the Sundance hit Talk to Me and the surprise sequel to Becky, The Wrath of Becky.
It turns out, the programming team isn’t finished!
SXSW announced another wave of film programming today, including an eighth Midnighter.
“Midnighters don’t need to be exclusively horror films, they just need to perk you up and get your blood pumping,” said Peter Hall, Film & TV Festival Programmer. “That’s why this year’s SXSW Midnighters class is a mix of horror, bone-crunching action, and mind-melting genre hybrids. Some of them introduce new, terrifying lore to the canon of suburban horror movies,...
The previous announcement unveiled a stacked horror lineup that includes headiners Evil Dead Rise and opener Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
In addition, they revealed several prominent horror titles that will premiere as part of the Midnighters program, including the Sundance hit Talk to Me and the surprise sequel to Becky, The Wrath of Becky.
It turns out, the programming team isn’t finished!
SXSW announced another wave of film programming today, including an eighth Midnighter.
“Midnighters don’t need to be exclusively horror films, they just need to perk you up and get your blood pumping,” said Peter Hall, Film & TV Festival Programmer. “That’s why this year’s SXSW Midnighters class is a mix of horror, bone-crunching action, and mind-melting genre hybrids. Some of them introduce new, terrifying lore to the canon of suburban horror movies,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, uses machines, especially computer systems, to simulate human intelligence. AI is used to create extremely lifelike interactions online and in video games. Ethical issues sometimes arise with the use of AI because of concerns about informed consent to use data, safety and transparency, and data privacy. But what if AI could be used to track down criminals like child predators? Writer/director Franklin Ritch explores the use of AI to pursue child predators online and the ethical and moral questions that may come up in The Artifice Girl, which had its World Premiere at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival and was produced by Paper Street Pictures. With The Artifice Girl, Ritch has created an impressive debut feature film which presents an AI that has been developed to hunt pedophiles online. When the creator of the AI teams up with Special Agents to capture child...
- 7/24/2022
- by Michelle Swope
- DailyDead
Variety debuted the trailer for The Artifice Girl, the first sci-fi feature film from writer-director Franklin Ritch. The key art for the sci-fi flick was also released. “The Artifice Girl” follows the punishing interrogation of a rogue tech wizard responsible for creating an elaborate AI program to lure child predators and abate human trafficking. As the tech grows sentient and develops its own moral code, the characters are caught in the cross-hairs as they debate authoritative overstep, boundaries and abuse of power while questioning the fate of anonymity and autonomy. “The Artifice Girl” casts memorable up-and-comers David Girard (“Teardrop Goodbye”) and Sinda Nichols (“That Abandoned Place”) as special agents Amos McCullough and Dena Helms, and Tatum Matthews (“The Waltons: Homecoming”) as Cherry, along...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/12/2022
- Screen Anarchy
"It's because she's not real. She's not a real human being..." A festival teaser trailer has debuted for an indie sci-fi film titled The Artifice Girl, from director Franklin Ritch making his feature debut. It's premiering at the 2022 Fantasia Film Festival this month - they explain: "The Artifice Girl delivers a tense and morally cryptic experience that will leave a microchip-shaped imprint on your brain." When an internet vigilante develops a revolutionary new computer program to combat online predators, its rapid advancement leads to serious questions of autonomy, oppression, and what it really means to be human. The film is a tech thriller about A.I. and how far it can go. "While this is a wildly ambitious science fiction, it was important for us to ground the story in technical veracity and thoughtful characters. It becomes a compelling mystery that will hopefully incite ethical and philosophical discussion." Starring David Girard,...
- 7/11/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Ahead of its world premiere in competition at Montreal’s Fantasia, writer-director Franklin Ritch has provided Variety exclusive access to the trailer and poster for his first sci-fi feature, “The Artifice Girl.”
The film will premiere within the Cheval Noir strand, among a line-up of equally unconventional narratives brought to the screen by fresh and established global talents. Ritch is no stranger to the festival, having debuted his buzzy short film “Bedridden” there in 2018.
Produced by Paper Street Pictures (“The Pale Door”), Blood Oath (“Extra Ordinary”), and Ritch’s Last Resort Ideas, “The Artifice Girl” follows the punishing interrogation of a rogue tech wizard responsible for creating an elaborate AI program to lure child predators and abate human trafficking.
As the tech grows sentient and develops its own moral code, the characters are caught in the cross-hairs as they debate authoritative overstep, boundaries and abuse of power while questioning the fate of anonymity and autonomy.
The film will premiere within the Cheval Noir strand, among a line-up of equally unconventional narratives brought to the screen by fresh and established global talents. Ritch is no stranger to the festival, having debuted his buzzy short film “Bedridden” there in 2018.
Produced by Paper Street Pictures (“The Pale Door”), Blood Oath (“Extra Ordinary”), and Ritch’s Last Resort Ideas, “The Artifice Girl” follows the punishing interrogation of a rogue tech wizard responsible for creating an elaborate AI program to lure child predators and abate human trafficking.
As the tech grows sentient and develops its own moral code, the characters are caught in the cross-hairs as they debate authoritative overstep, boundaries and abuse of power while questioning the fate of anonymity and autonomy.
- 7/11/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
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