DRAGN

There’s no shortage of films about machines turning evil. Whether it’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, or M3GAN, the dangers of technology have been a prominent theme for decades. DRAGN is the latest entry in this genre, which sees a group of colleagues on a corporate retreat become hunted by an AI drone. While an out-of-control military weapon is a plausible threat that fits squarely into current concerns about generative AI, this low-budget sci-fi horror from Hannibal Rising director Peter Webber falls flat, delivering a thriller with little tension.

The film stars James Paxton as Tom, an enthusiastic and bright-eyed employee who travels to Serbia with his wife and young daughter after volunteering to participate in a teambuilding exercise. Joined by Daniel (Carlos Bardem), Adele (Lilly Krug), and Sebastian (Franz Drameh), they head deep into the woods under the watch of supervisor Jacob (Jadran Malkovich). Although the characters are essentially a collection of genre archetypes, including the gruff former soldier and free-spirited partygoer, there’s a playfulness to their interactions which initially makes them endearing in a B-movie way. However, this charm quickly evaporates once the drone comes into play.

The DRAGN (Defence Reaction And Ground Neutralisation) is a Swiss-army knife of destruction equipped with a machine gun, laser cutter, flamethrower, and a buzzsaw. It’s even described as being able to evolve and adapt its behaviour until it gets the kill. Given the machine’s proficiency for slaughter, it’s disappointing how underwhelming the kills are. While the filmmaker uses some effectively gross gore effects when showing the mangled corpses of the drone’s previous victims, the impact of the violence is undermined by having the deaths occur offscreen. The suspense is also hindered by constant POV shots that tell viewers exactly where the drone is.

The film’s biggest stumbling point is its script. Not only does it spell out the main message in gigantic letters, but it also follows a predictable plot with few surprises. The dialogue is clunky in parts, with characters frequently pivoting from one extreme emotion to another within seconds.

DRAGN aims to be the kind of schlocky outing where audiences turn off their brains and go along for the ride. Unfortunately, this sci-fi horror misses the mark as it descends into a messy parable about why we should be nice to AI in case it ever turns against us.