20 Movies About AI That Came Out in the Last 5 Years (2024)

Artificial intelligence has become one of the hottest topics in recent years, and as expected, Hollywood and other major film industries have jumped on the trend, producing dozens of movies about the different scenarios that are likely to stem from this kind of technological advancement. Some movies keep things simple, showcasing what each one of us is already experiencing, while others predict doom, showing how AI is likely to mess with human existence in the near future.

In the last five years alone, several different films about AI have been released and they are all extremely fascinating. These big-screen productions aren’t just rooted in the sci-fi genre alone. Some of them incorporate action, comedy, and horror elements, resulting in stories that are informative, cautionary, and entertaining. Because they were made recently, the movies are also a lot more accurate regarding the current state of artificial intelligence.

20 Brian and Charles (2022)

Jim Archer’s comedy-drama, Brian and Charles, follows Brian Gittins, a lonely scientist in rural Wales who decides to build an artificially intelligent robot that can keep him company. It initially won't power up, but after a thunderstorm, it starts functioning and then teaches itself English by reading the dictionary. Brian attempts to keep it close to him at all times, but it grows a mind of its own and develops a desire to explore the world.

Brian and Charles accentuates both a major benefit and a major challenge that might stem from artificial intelligence. As much as the technology might be useful, it might also prove difficult to control.

This is demonstrated in the later stages of the movie’s plot. After creating the robot (named Charles), Brian gets a friend he desperately craves. His wish is to control Charles like he would a pet, but Charles becomes curious and leans towards his independent desires. He expresses his intention to travel the world, leaving Brian with the same problem he had in the first place.

Stream it on Prime Video

19 Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One (2023)

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The plot of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One was built out of a rejected Superman pitch that Christopher McQuarrie had submitted to Warner Bros. Given how entertaining it is, fans will be glad that things turned out the way they did. The film centers around The Entity, an artificial intelligence system that is infiltrating various defense and financial databases without conducting any attacks. It aims to send a strong message about its power, so there emerges a scramble by various global powers to find its source code.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One amplifies the existing fears that people have about artificial intelligence. When you have a system that can impersonate voices, analyze video footage in milliseconds, and even predict the future, a lot can go wrong. The Entity has all these capabilities and more. What’s scarier, as per the movie, is that it was created by the American government, only to fall into the wrong hands. Will more tech weapons fall into the wrong hands in the future? Well, anything can happen.

Stream it on Paramount+

18 Superintelligence (2020)

Superintelligence

Release Date

December 11, 2020

Director

Ben Falcone

Cast

Melissa McCarthy , Bobby Cannavale , Jean Smart , Michael Beach , Brian Tyree Henry , James Corden

Runtime

106

Main Genre

Comedy

In Superintelligence, director Ben Falcone imagines a scenario where the fate of humanity lies in one person’s hands. Once again, there is a villainous AI system that isn’t quite sure whether it wants to eliminate humans or not. It singles out a young woman named Carol as a test subject and invades her home. It then informs her that it will make its decision after three days of watching her.

As scary as the situation is, the film delivers plenty of joyous moments. Instead of the cliché “hacker voice” that most movies use, the AI system speaks using the voice of TV personality James Corden, who is Carol’s favorite celebrity.

This is an accurate reflection of the current state of the entertainment industry where AI has proven capable of even imitating musicians and composing full songs in their voices. The fictional President and NSA agents also keep trying to make comical efforts to shut down the AI system but never succeed, proving that once such forms of technology develop too much, they will be impossible to stop. Thankfully, the woman does a good job of relating with the AI system, hence influencing it to be lenient.

Rent it on Apple TV+

17 Blank (2022)

Natalie Kennedy’s directorial debut, Blank, follows Claire Rivers, a struggling writer trying to figure out ways to overcome writer's block. After running out of options, she heads to an enclosed remote compound for an AI-controlled retreat. There, her AI assistant becomes overbearing and mean, refusing to let her leave the location until she has finished writing her story.

There are only seven human characters in the entire movie, creating more room for the Human Vs. Technology conflict. As much as AI is the villain, Blank creates valid justifications for the actions of both the system and the writer. Claire is not only lazy, but she is also a procrastinator, so the AI assistant makes her pay for both bad habits. However, free will and consent are still essential rights, so the AI assistant has no authority to keep her captive, yet she wants to leave. But can AI-powered systems learn what is morally right and wrong?

Rent it on Apple TV+

16 The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)

The Mitchells vs the Machines, young Katie Mitchell gets enrolled into a film school, so her family and her dog decide to take her there via a lengthy road trip. They are all looking forward to Mitchell beginning her studies but along the way, they realize that all the world’s electronic devices are attacking humans. Luckily, two robots aren’t up for the violence, so they team up with the family to stop the attacks.

The animated film reminds everyone that since technology links most machines, it can cause them all to malfunction if there is a glitch. The idea is borrowed from Stephen King’s controversial machine movie, Maximum Overdrive, but the plot is a lot more interesting here because of the humor and the chemistry between the family members and their new allies. A nefarious tech entrepreneur is also revealed to be behind the machine uprising, which makes audiences wonder what the effects of the misuse of AI would be like in the real world.

Stream it on Netflix

15 I Am Mother (2019)

I Am Mother

PG-13

Release Date

July 7, 2019

Director

Grant Sputore

Cast

Clara Rugaard , Rose Byrne , Hilary Swank , Luke Hawker

Runtime

113 Minutes

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Apocalypses normally catch humans by surprise in movies, but not in I Am Mother, where it’s revealed that an automated bunker had been created to repopulate Earth if all human life was wiped out. After the extinction event, the bunker’s AI-powered robot (simply named Mother) begins growing an embryo in a lab and raises the baby into an adult 18-year-old woman.

Nothing is actually as it seems in I Am Mother. There is a major twist about halfway into the movie, which reveals that Mother might not be as nice as audiences have been made to believe. Besides that, morality is a major theme throughout the proceedings. Having been constructed with a specific set of instructions about what is right and wrong, Mother raises her new human child, Daughter, to be a disciplined person and when she starts deviating from what she has been taught, a major feud erupts between them.

Stream in on Netflix

14 M3GAN (2022)

M3GAN

PG-13

Thriller

Horror

Sci-Fi

A robotics engineer at a toy company builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own.

Release Date

January 6, 2023

Director

Gerard Johnstone

Cast

Allison Williams , Ronny Chieng , Kimberley Crossman

Runtime

1hr 42min

Fans of movies about killer dolls got a major treat in 2022, courtesy of Gerard Johnstone and James Wan’s M3GAN. In it, the titular artificially intelligent doll develops some form of self-awareness and becomes violent towards anyone who tries to come between it and the little girl who owns her. Within a short period, the doll turns against both the girl’s family and the company that made it.

M3GAN is yet another movie that asks questions regarding how possible it is to control AI-powered machines and objects. When the doll is still following its programming commands, it remains obedient and useful, but once it develops a mind of its own, it turns murderous. The film also condemns the emerging desire to use AI for everything. When the generative android is first brought into the family, it bonds with the little girl so much that she becomes distant toward her guardian, creating a whole new attachment problem.

Stream it on Prime Video

13 Bigbug (2022)

Bigbug by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (the Oscar-nominated French director behind Amélie), is science fiction black comedy at its finest. The mayhem unfolds in the year 2045 where every family has AI-powered robots as helpers. Soon, a machine revolt begins around the globe and a family is taken hostage by their android helpers. With tensions rising, members of the family begin turning against each other.

The film paints a perfect yet hilarious picture of how humans are likely to react if home AI systems ever malfunction. Rather than deal with the threat at hand, each of the family members becomes overwhelmed by paranoia and begins targeting each other.

Besides that, Bigbug has a wide variety of AI-powered machines, making it distinctive from other projects of the same kind. There is one modeled after a ‘50s maid, another that serves as a physical trainer, another that’s a toy for the youngest member of the family, and another named Einstein, which serves as a supervisor.

Stream it on Netflix

12 The Creator (2023)

The Creator

PG-13

Release Date

September 29, 2023

Director

Gareth Edwards

Cast

John David Washington , Gemma Chan , Ken Watanabe , Sturgill Simpson , Allison Janney , Madeleine Yuna Voyles

Runtime

2hr 13min

Main Genre

Action

The Creator transports viewers to the year 2055 (and later to 2070), where artificial intelligence (AI) unleashes a nuclear weapon in America. In response, Western countries unite in a war against AI while Eastern countries embrace it. Soon, Joshua (John David Washington), an ex-special forces operative is recruited to hunt down the AI’s creator, who is said to have another deadly weapon that is capable of terminating all humans for good.

The West and the East have always looked for reasons to feud and AI might just be a solid base for disagreement in the future. The Creator thus uses technology to address geopolitics in a manner that is sensible and realistic. However, it isn’t just a film about doom. Director Gareth Edwards (best known for Godzilla) balances the advantages and disadvantages of AI. For example, the protagonist has strong AI-powered limbs that help him greatly in his mission after the natural ones get amputated.

Buy it on Amazon

11 Moonfall (2022)

Moonfall

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

In Roland Emmerich's new big-budget disaster film, a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it on a collision course with life as we know it.

Release Date

February 4, 2022

Director

Roland Emmerich

Cast

Halle Berry , Patrick Wilson , Michael Pena , Charlie Plummer , Donald Sutherland

Runtime

2hr 10min

According to Moonfall, technology didn’t just emerge in recent centuries. Billions of years ago, our ancestors were living in a technologically advanced solar system, with a sentient AI system serving them all. One day, it went rogue and began wiping out humanity. Several people escaped in arks and built habitable planets across the galaxy, but the AI wiped them all away, except Earth. In the movie, it is now seeking to destroy the planet by putting it on a collision course with the moon.

By creating a universe where nearly everything is linked to technology, directed Roland Emmerich manages to tell a distinctive and ambitious tale that is full of all the necessary tech and space jargon. Troubleshooting is the main objective here, with worldly governments racing against time to ensure the moon doesn’t collide with the Earth. From a tech perspective, it all feels very relatable as there have been numerous scenarios where people have found themselves having to fix messes that were created by malfunctioning personal computers.

Stream it on Max

10 I Am Your Man (2021)

How far would people go to get money? Well, in I Am Your Man, archeologist, Dr. Alma Felser, is seeking funds for her next project and when she is informed that she will be paid if she lives with a humanoid robot for three weeks as a way to test its capabilities, she agrees. After several moments of bonding, she falls for the robot.

I Am Your Man shows that there are limitless possibilities as to where AI technology can go. On this occasion, the robot is so advanced that it’s able to have romantic feelings and make love to Alma while feeling pleasure in the same way a human would. It’s fun because it has all the little romcom tropes in it, including the classic “I can’t do this anymore” line, but from a tech angle, it impresses by suggesting all the little ways that man and machine can connect.

Stream it on Hulu

9 Heart of Stone (2023)

Heart of Stone

PG-13

Release Date

August 11, 2023

Director

Tom Harper

Cast

Jamie Dornan , Gal Gadot , Alia Bhatt

Runtime

2hr 2min

Main Genre

Action

In Heart of Stone, intelligence operative Rachel "Nine of Hearts" Stone (Gal Gadot) is tasked with preventing an AI program known as The Heart from falling into the wrong hands. In classic spy movie fashion, the mission takes her on a journey to several corners of the globe where she bumps into all kinds of characters, each with their ulterior motives.

Like Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Heart of Stone doesn’t try to be too clever. The joy lies in the shootouts, the chases, and the random punching of keyboard keys to locate something somewhere. Still, the message remains clear: AI is powerful, and it needs to be handled by sensible and good-intentioned people at all times. And if there is ever the risk of something going wrong, then everyone responsible for the existence of the system needs to act fast.

Stream it on Netflix

8 Serenity (2019)

Steven Knight (best known for creating Peaky Blinders) surprised audiences about this powerful tale about a boy who dreams of killing his step-father. Events kick off when the fishing boat captain Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is offered $10 million by his ex-wife to kill her abusive ex-husband. It turns out that Dill isn’t real. He died years ago and this version of him is in a computer game created by his son, who wishes to see his stepfather dead.

Sections of tech experts have argued that by feeding AI enough data, video game characters can be aware that they aren’t real and that there are humans out there determining their fates. Serenity rides on such a narrative to create a perfect thriller that’s full of endless twists and turns. Still, the movie serves as a warning that if young minds get fed too much tech knowledge, they might go on to misuse it.

Rent it on Apple TV+

7 Jung_E (2023)

It’s the year 2194 in Jung_E, and as expected, the Earth has become uninhabitable. Everyone lives in shelters now. Meanwhile, a team of scientists attempts to develop an AI version of Yun Jung-yi, a feared dead soldier who once helped in the fight against rebels who had broken off from the shelters and started their republic. The film is the brainchild of Yeon Sang-ho, best known for making one of the greatest zombie movies, Train to Busan.

Jung_E keeps hope alive by suggesting that in the future, it might be easy to download peoples’ consciousness elsewhere, hence enabling them to exist elsewhere. At the same time, it serves as a warning of a scenario where it might be hard to differentiate between what’s AI and what’s not. This is best demonstrated at the end of the film where an influential person who has been pushing machine-related policies is revealed to be an android with an AI-powered brain.

Stream it on Netflix

6 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Terminator: Dark Fate

R

Release Date

October 23, 2019

Director

Tim Miller

Cast

Linda Hamilton , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Mackenzie Davis , Natalia Reyes , Gabriel Luna , Diego Boneta

Runtime

128

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Dark Fate is the only critically acclaimed Terminator movie not directed by James Cameron, and it stands tall because it follows the formula that the legendary director used in the second installment. Once again, a Skynet terminator is sent back in time to kill a man whose fate is linked to the future. The resistance also sends an augmented soldier to protect him and the duel begins.

Like the first two films, this follow-up predicts that there will come a time when machines will colonize humans and that they will be able to time-travel at will. The idea is a stretch, but it is creatively used here to create a tense human-AI conflict. What fans will love the most is the return of the legendary Sarah Connor and the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Overall, the action remains the strongest pillar, boosted by fun banter.

Rent it on Apple TV+

5 Mother/Android (2021)

Mattson Tomlin’s directorial debut, Mother/Android follows a pregnant woman and her boyfriend as they try to make it to Boston during an AI-takeover. Boston is the only place that has been fortified against the machines. Careful in their journey, they avoid roads and travel through the woods where they risk encountering wild animals. Within no time, several new challenges pop up.

Mother/Android shoves all kinds of horrors right at the audience member's face. There are scenes where phones explode, killing the users, and other androids issue creepy messages such as wishing people Happy Halloween rather than Merry Christmas. Overall, it’s a sad tale that shows how mean machines can be if things get out of control.

Throughout the journey, the two are hunted by various androids, and are even tricked into trusting one of them, resulting in disastrous outcomes. In the end, only the newborn baby gets to have a happy ending.

Stream it on Hulu

4 The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

The Matrix Resurrections

R

Release Date

December 22, 2021

Director

Lana Wachowski

Cast

Christina Ricci , Keanu Reeves , Carrie-Anne Moss , Jessica Henwick , Ellen Hollman , Jonathan Groff

Runtime

2hr 28min

Main Genre

Action

For The Matrix Resurrections, fans only got one of the Wachowskis (Lana), instead of two of them as has been the norm, which explains why the movie is weak in some areas. Even so, it still beats most of what is in the market. Set 60 years after the previous film, it follows the famous Neo as he struggles to distinguish between what’s real and what’s not. It soon emerges that the Matrix has become stronger than ever.

Like the previous films, The Matrix Resurrections reinforces the conspiracy theory that our universe might not be real at all. We might all be living in a computerized system and there is no definitive way of finding out. Moreover, this is one of the few movies where the visuals totally match the topic at hand. The green and black color scheme is a direct reference to computer program systems, hence audiences get the impression that the creators truly care about every little tech aspect.

Stream it on Max

3 Jexi (2019)

Jexi

R

Release Date

October 11, 2019

Director

Scott Moore , Jon Lucas

Cast

Adam Devine , Justin Hartley , Wanda Sykes , Ron Funches , Rose Byrne , Charlyne Yi , Alexandra Shipp , Michael Pena

Runtime

84 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

The last film released by CBS Films before it was absorbed into Paramount+, Jexi centers around a self-aware phone as it bonds with its socially inept owner. Unimpressed by its owner’s reclusiveness, the smartphone begins texting people and making plans for him without his consent, resulting in both hilarious and disastrous outcomes.

Jexi is an additional Hollywood reminder that AI can be both cool and detrimental, so humans ought to be prepared for both outcomes. For example, the phone texts its owner’s boss aggressively (because it believes he is too soft) to get him a promotion, but he is demoted instead. It also ruins a date for him at some point. On the other hand, it helps him make more friends and plan his life better.

Stream it on Roku

2 Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

R

Action

Thriller

Special agent Orson Fortune and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars to help them on an undercover mission. Starring Jason Statham, Cary Elwes, Josh Harnett, and Aubrey Plaza.

Release Date

March 17, 2022

Director

Guy Ritchie

Cast

Jason Statham , Aubrey Plaza , Josh Hartnett , Cary Elwes , Hugh Grant , Kaan Urgancioglu

Runtime

114 Minutes

Guy Ritchie appears to trust Jason Statham more than any other actor and the two recently collaborated again in the spy action-comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Statham plays the skilled spy Orson Fortune, tasked with stopping the sale of a new piece of technology that’s at the hands of a wealthy arms broker. Aiding him in the mission are several operatives as well as a major Hollywood star.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is an AI movie for everyone, not just the techies or spy flick lovers. Unlike Dead Reckoning: Part One, it avoids going into details about what the piece of tech can and cannot do. All that audiences know is that it’s very powerful, hence the reason everyone is going after it. Still, the film reminds everyone that we are moving into an era where AI will be the most valuable thing in the world.

Stream it on Starz

1 Archive (2020)

Directed by Gavin Rothery, Archive revolves around George, a tech company employee struggling to deal with his wife’s death. Luckily, technology has advanced to a point where dead peoples’ consciousness can be stored in special devices and their loved ones are allowed to speak with them on the phone for a maximum of 200 hours. Eager to find a way around the limited talk time, George begins developing an android so that he can download his wife’s consciousness permanently into it.

Archive sells hope to audiences, hope that one day, artificial intelligence will make grief a thing of the past. It all seems like a wild concept for now, but given how fast technology is developing, it would be unwise to rule anything out. The movie also has a wild twist in the third act where it’s revealed that a certain reality that viewers thought was the actual reality is the fake one.

Stream it on Prime Video and Tubi TV