Foe

In the year 2065, a married midwestern couple, Hen (Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird) and Junior (Paul Mescal, Aftersun), live in Junior’s weather-beaten ancestral farmhouse. Their relationship seems to be on ground as unsolid as the expansive, desolate landscape that surrounds them, parched and mottled by decades of climate change. One night, a stranger (Aaron Pierre, Brother) arrives at their door with a surprising proposal, offering them the chance to change their own futures and perhaps alter the course of human existence. In this superbly rendered, sensationally acted science-fiction drama, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Iain Reid, director Garth Davis (Lion) brilliantly toys with viewers’ perceptions while interrogating essential questions of our time about environmental apocalypse and the rise of artificial intelligence, building in emotional intensity to a devastating climax. (Dir. by Garth Davis, 2023, Australia/UK/USA, 110 mins., Rated R)

Other festivals: New York, BFI