Romi – TUBI Review (2/5)

ROMI on TUBI is a new horror movie set in a smart home. Once again, AI is the villain – or is it?! You’ll just have to watch the movie to find out. I will say that there also seems to be a haunting element. Read our full Romi movie review here!

ROMI is a new horror movie on TUBI. With a runtime of just 86 minutes, it doesn’t go on for too long. However, I have to start out by saying that it should’ve been shorter. There’s just a bit too much repetition for my liking. Better to have a shorter runtime with a stronger impact!

In this horror movie, a smart home and AI take center stage. In that sense, it reminded me of the movies T.I.M. or even TAU. Then again, this isn’t just another “AI is dangerous”-movie. The story goes further than that. Think zombie movies, where both zombies and humans are dangerous.

Continue reading our Romi movie review below. Find it on TUBI from March 14, 2024.

Maddie needs to hide

Before we ever get to the smart home and the AI named “Romi”, we meet Maddie (Alexa Barajas from Yellowjackets) and she is in trouble. She’s been in an accident of the hit-and-run variety. It was entirely her fault as she wasn’t watching the road and she panicked instead of helping the victim.

Her politician mother is up for re-election and cannot allow her careless daughter to destroy her career. That is why, when Maddie asks for help, she finds a place where she can hide. More to help herself than her daughter, which becomes increasingly clear.

Maddie arrives at the gorgeous safe house which is really a smart home. Or, as it’s described “a state-of-the-art domicile boasting a fully operational AI system called ROMI”.  Yeah, that’s a mouthful for you, but it is also very accurate. Well, except for the fact that ROMI is an AI that seems to have a few glitches.

The house belongs to Hertig (Pavel Kríz), who seems kind enough but also tends to stand a bit too close. To help Maddie become a user of ROMI, the awkward and nerdy (but charming) A.I. tech Barkley (Juan Riedinger) shows up. He built the artificial assistant from the ground up, so he’s the ROMI expert.

Even though Maddie is hiding, she’s doing all the wrong things; Calling her mom constantly and searching for news on the accident she was in. ROMI sees all and knows all, but also tries to show Maddie something. Or maybe something (or someone) is trying to get Maddie to see them. A mystery that needs to be solved!

Smart Home and AI unite

As mentioned, setting a horror movie in a smart home with an AI running the show isn’t new. We’ve seen quite a few movies with this core plot. In that sense, it’s fortunate that ROMI goes beyond that.

Still, using the AI’s name as the title is exactly like in M3GAN and TAU along with just about any other movie with a plot that features an AI.

Despite Romi being set in a (by now!) very familiar setting, it does stand out in several positive ways. Especially thanks to it not being entirely about AI. Instead, it does focus quite a lot on how dubious we human beings can be. Also, yes, there is a haunting element and it’s revealed very early on.

Watch ROMI on TUBI now!

The new AI horror movie ROMI is based on the short film of the same title. Both the short film and this feature film version were directed by Robert Cuffley and the script was written by Susie Moloney.

These two filmmakers have worked together before on the 2020 horror movie Bright Hill Road which is also available on Tubi. Director Robert Cuffley has a lot of horror shorts on his resume, so I’m hoping more feature film versions will be made.

I just also really hope that the story will be expanded and developed more. To me, Romi did feel more like a short movie that had simply been dragged out in runtime. Sure, there’s plenty for a runtime of around one hour, but it did feel too long. That’s my main issue with it and why I’m at 2½ out of 5.

Romi is out on TUBI from March 14, 2024.

Details

Director: Robert Cuffley
Writer: Susie Moloney
Cast: Alexa Barajas, Juan Riedinger, Pavel Kriz, Jocelyn Chugg, Jamie Shelnitz, Shannon Leahy