Shows and films like have tried exploring whether technology can bring back the dead. In the first trailer for Vertical Entertainment’s Archive, one man uses the memories of his deceased wife to turn her into a robot. But the person he’s made is not the same as the one he remembers.
Archive stars Theo James (Divergent series) as George Almore, a researcher who’s spent years working on a human-equivalent AI. It might seem like he’s just making the software, but he’s actually gone a step further to make an AI-capable robot. That’s because there’s a secret reason behind the project: to reunite with his wife, played by Stacy Martin (Vox Lux), who was killed in a car accident. However, it becomes clear that the robot (Martin in a dual role) is their own person and doesn’t want to live in the shadow of a ghost.
The movie was set to debut at SXSW, but was picked up by Vertical Entertainment after the festival was cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Deadline previously reported that Archive was set to be released in theatres on July 10. However, no release date was included with the trailer, so it’s unclear when the movie will come out or whether it’ll be theatrical or on-demand. We’ve reached out to Vertical Entertainment for clarification and will update should we hear back.