WHEN UNFETTERED | Omeleto Sci-Fi

An A.I. robot is dismissed.


WHEN UNFETTERED is used with permission from Derek Franzese. Learn more at https://seasonfivefilms.com.


Ash is an A.I. humanoid robot that cares for an elderly man. When he passes away peacefully, his family relieves Ash of her hospice and care duties.

Left to her own devices, Ash wanders outside for a walk, roaming until she stops at a park. When she meets a boy with special needs and his mother, they spend time together, giving Ash another window into what it means to be human, celebrate their differences and embrace what makes them different.

Directed and written by Derek Franzese, this thoughtful and warmhearted sci-fi short is an introspective, searching snapshot in an A.I. robot's evolution, as she discovers other dimensions of what it means to be human beyond her set directive. Ash has been caring for an elderly man, but when he dies, she sets off on a small but consequential journey that forms a microcosm of human emotions and attitudes, particularly towards difference. In discovering the varied stripes and sensibilities of human beings, Ash finds herself on this continuum as well, posing larger questions of what it means to be alive and exist as a being in this world.

Rather than taking a dystopian angle to its subject matter and central character, the film takes a gentler, more openly thoughtful approach in its portrayal of Ash, reflected in the gleaming brightness of the lights and colors of its cinematography. Ash herself is portrayed with a subdued reserve, with actor Ashley Whelan carefully shading Ash's thoughtfulness with both a certain programmed quality and a keen sense of observation. Though her manner is soft, she's gently puzzled by the sorrow of her charge's grieving family. When the man's daughters relieve Ash of her duties, that puzzlement ripens into a curiosity she can follow on her walk, taking her out into a larger world beyond the house she's been confined in.

The film's storytelling shifts into a more sensory realm as Ash moves into the larger world, discovering sights, sounds and sensations beyond what she has been programmed for. The world is awash with new pleasures for Ash, and when Ash finds her way to a park where children with special needs can play, she finds a new outlet for her caregiving. She also discovers the joy of childlike play, though the freshness of that experience is disrupted when a mother discovers she is "synthetic." Her child, though, still sees Ash favorably, with an openness and positivity that carries over into the next stage of Ash's journey.

Heartwarming and life-affirming, WHEN UNFETTERED is engaged with questions of what it means to be human, but as Ash's own consciousness is enlarged throughout the course of the narrative, it poses other related questions of morality, existence and ethics: what does it mean to be alive, and how do we treat living beings? Ash is labeled synthetic, but she's also always learning, helpful and giving. She is engaged with her senses; she can form opinions. She can even connect with those open to her, and allow those experiences to shape her next course. She even makes a choice about her own future, and though at the film's end we don't know what it is, we are sure it will be as rich and fascinating as anyone else's journey.