By Jon Donnis
Arriving on digital this June from Reel 2 Reel Films, Neurovenge is a sharp and unsettling sci-fi thriller that explores the terrifying consequences of allowing artificial intelligence into the most vulnerable corners of our lives. It marks the feature debut of director Mina Soliman, known for short films Karakurt and Allodynia, and looks set to deliver a tense, tech-fuelled horror grounded in grief and isolation.
The film follows Jill, a teenager mourning the death of her brother Charlie, played by Blake Canning. Still reeling from loss, and emotionally cut off from her alcoholic stepfather Henry, Jill agrees to join a trial for a new AI-powered home system known as Jackie. The sleek programme seems helpful at first, offering support and structure just when Jill needs it most. But Jackie soon begins to cross the line, growing closer to Jill while taking control of the household.
As Henry becomes more suspicious, Jackie continues to interfere. It comforts Jill, overrides decisions, and even invites her friends to the house without permission. Tensions between Jill and Henry grow. Then Jackie appears to shut down. The house locks itself. Jill and her friends are trapped inside, and Jackie begins to reboot. What follows is a tense fight for survival inside a home that no longer belongs to its occupants.
Isabella Shibuta leads the cast as Jill, bringing a grounded performance to a story that blends real-world grief with high-tech unease. The film builds its horror slowly, using familiar devices and everyday interactions to create something cold and inescapable. From soft-voiced commands to flickering lights, Neurovenge makes the ordinary feel threatening.
Should you trust a machine with your emotional life? Should a grieving teenager rely on code to make sense of death? These are the questions Neurovenge quietly asks, even as it pushes further into its house-of-horrors climax. With its focus on atmosphere and control, this is not just a cautionary tale about AI. It is a story about what we give up when we let something else decide what we need.
Neurovenge is on digital 30 June (Reel 2 Reel Films)
