Inspired by the release of our latest Daniel Askill-directed film, Universal Machine, NOWNESS explores the development of bioengineered technology in films that either allay or harness our insecurities about the future. Whether people are up against sentient machines, androids, replicants or humanoids, the battle for co-existence is rarely evenly weighted. From the dawn of cinema until today, films still make us question whether we should despise or empathize with the products of our own making.

1. Metropolis (1927)

The age-old image of the mad scientist working away on a new, groundbreaking experiment has been in popular culture since Mary Shelly published Frankenstein in 1818. So it's of no surprise that early cinema arrived with the plot for Metropolis, which has been described as "a dialectical treatise on man vs. machine". The robot is born!

2. Westworld (TV Show) (2016 - present)

The binge-worthy his US show goes through painstaking detail on the making of a "host". From the sinewy muscles to the glint of the eyeballs—nothing is left to the imagination…

3. Ex Machina (2014)

SPOILERS! A sharp programmer is invited to a tech billionaire's remote mansion to ascertain if consciousness resides in Ava, the android protagonist in Ex Machina. This scene embodies the ultimate fear that humans have of machines—that one day our creations will turn around and destroy us. 

4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Arnold Swarzenegger’s terminator character—the ultimate assassin—was one of the first times a cinema audience empathized with a (reformed) killer robot. James Cameron's box office hit transformed the hackneyed narrative of the dangerous android to one where technology can protect, and not harm, us.

5. Annihilation (2018)

Natalie Portman is up against an advanced, otherworldly tech in this clip from the film’s final scene. Accompanied by music from Moderat, Annihilation is an audio-visual treat that questions the nature of life, death, consciousness and what it means to be human. 

6. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

The film's artificial intelligence aka the Red Queen advises Alice on the final battle for Earth.

7. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Sometimes, amid the chaos, fear and resentment, there remains some rare moments of beauty between humans and humanoids—no matter how short lived it may be.