Neurovenge (2025) Review
Neurovenge (2025) Review
Director Mina Soliman (Karakurt, Allodynia) makes her feature debut with this chilling Black Mirror-esque thriller that’s set to move in on digital this June courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films.
Following the devastating loss of her brother Charlie (Blake Canning – BUTCHERS, WHAT LURKS BENEATH), teen Jill (Isabella Shibuta – RIGHT UNDER MY ROOF, DESIGNING CHRISTMAS) struggles to deal with her overwhelming grief as she grows even more distant from her alcoholic stepfather. The pair hope they can begin to rebuild their lives when they are approached to be a test group for an intriguing new AI home programme.
However, it’s not long until the house’s AI system ‘Jackie’ begins to overstep the boundaries and Henry grows wary of their new high-tech hell hole. Tensions rise between father and daughter as ‘Jackie’ comforts Jill through her mourning, even taking control by inviting her friends to the house. But, when ‘Jackie’ appears to go offline and the house goes into lockdown, Jill and her friends must attempt to survive the tormenting house of horrors as ‘Jackie’ begins to reboot and the system’s true intentions are revealed… with deadly consequences…
Director Mina Soliman’s debut feature NEUROVENGE is another in a long line of thrillers where technology terrorises humans. From the calming yet threateningly neutral tones of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’s Hal 9000, through to Julie Christie’s Seventies flick DEMON SEED and then right up to and including recent release M3GAN 2.0, technology rarely benefits the user and instead takes full control and makes their lives hell. And that is exactly what happens here in NEUROVENGE as AI system ‘Jackie’ does just that to her human captives, this time in the name of revenge.
NEUROVENGE should suck given that it is hardly breaking new ground but surprisingly it doesn’t. Buoyed up by decent performances, a decent pace and a short runtime, every minute is made to count. If I were to have a criticism of NEUROVENGE it would be that come the film’s climax matters are resolved far too tidily and quickly for my liking and also sometimes the sound mix for a couple of the film’s start-up scenes varies but otherwise this modestly budgeted sci-fi thriller hits the spot nicely.
On digital 30 June from Reel 2 Reel Films
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