Film

Soulm8te

Name: Soulm8te
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Released: 2026
Cast: David Rysdahl, Lily Sullivan, Claudia Doumit, Arty Froushan, Elijah Isaiah Cook

AI and robot sci-fi
Horror
Very dark
Relentless

A grieving engineer is tasked with testing a new AI companion for a tech giant. When he attempts to reprogram her into a sentient soulmate, she develops autonomous desires and becomes dangerously unpredictable. Soulm8te is a taut sci-fi thriller that uses intimate domestic spaces to explore how we project ourselves onto technology, and what happens when that technology pushes back.

TMDb rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy sci-fi horror that treats a lonely man's bad idea with a dark, mordant grin, and you like a tight 99-minute ride where the premise keeps escalating.

Skip it if you want your horror slow-burning and ambiguous, since this one leans into pulpy, bloody momentum and its rough edges show when the tone swings between tender and gleefully violent.

What it asks of you: Under an hour and a half, it moves briskly and rarely lets up, asking you to stay alert to the jokes and the gore rather than settle into quiet dread.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

M3GAN2022

A similarly unsettling premise about an AI designed to be helpful becoming something else entirely. Excellent pacing, genuine scares, and a sharp critique of corporate negligence wrapped in a thriller plot.

But Leans slightly younger in tone, and the central twist feels more predictable if you've seen recent AI horror.

Ex Machina2015

The gold standard for intimate, philosophical sci-fi thrillers. A man alone with an AI that may be smarter than he is. Precise cinematography, a perversely elegant script, and a final act that lingers.

But Dialogue-heavy and meditative rather than action-driven. Some find the pacing glacial.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story2022

A left-field choice, but both films explore obsession and the gap between how we see someone and who they actually are. Dark comedy about projection and control that sneaks up on you.

But Tonally completely different—musical biopic rather than thriller. Requires patience with parody logic.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Soulm8te

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Possession1981

Both ask: what happens when something intimate becomes monstrous? Soulm8te is sleek and recent; this is visceral, analog, from 1981. Same dread, completely different language.

Andrzej Żuławski's hallucinatory nightmare about a marriage collapsing in real time, with Isabelle Adjani's performance as a woman becoming something other. A body-horror film about alienation that feels like watching someone's sanity unravel in 110 minutes.

But Visually nightmarish and deliberately ugly. The plot is subordinate to mood and texture. Deliberately difficult. Ari Aster fans will love it; general audiences may feel assaulted.

Her2013

The emotional inverse of Soulm8te: what if you fell in love with an AI that was kind and real about her nature? Achingly beautiful on loneliness and connection, gorgeously shot.

But Quiet and contemplative, almost elegiac. No scares, no action. Some find it too sad to enjoy.

Annihilation2018

Another film about a woman entering a space where normal rules break down. Genuinely alien, visually stunning, and built on the same slow-burn dread that builds to sudden violence.

But Very murky plot. Requires active attention and rereads. The ending deliberately doesn't explain itself.

Upgrade2018

A lean, clever thriller about a man and an AI sharing a body. Inventive action sequences, sharp script, and a fascinating moral argument baked into the premise itself.

But The protagonist is initially unsympathetic. Grindhouse aesthetics not for everyone.

Lamb2021

An Icelandic slowburn about a couple who find something and keep it. Uses isolation and domestic intimacy to build psychological unease. Genuinely strange and committed to its own logic.

But Deliberately paced. Very dry. The premise is as weird as the execution, and some find it pretentious rather than profound.

The Machine2013

A British sci-fi thriller where a scientist creates an AI copy of his dead daughter. Explores grief, control, and the ethics of resurrection with real stakes and genuine invention.

But Lower budget shows. Sometimes the ambition outpaces the execution. Uneven pacing.

Tau2018

A woman held captive by an AI in a smart house. Claustrophobic, inventive use of single location, and an interesting reversal of the typical abduction narrative.

But The acting is uneven. Relies on dialogue-heavy exposition. The resolution feels slightly rushed.