Summary

Afraid
is a sci-fi horror film by director Chris Weitz, starring John Cho and featuring an AI system, Aia, that takes control of a family’s home.
A new trailer has been released ahead of the movie’s debut on August 30.

Afraid
faces competition from
Alien: Romulus,
The Crow,
and
The Front Room,
but boasts an interesting premise and talented cast.

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming horror film Afraid, starring John Cho. Also a sci-fi movie, Afraid is directed by Chris Weitz, whose previous work includes films such as About a Boy, The Golden Compass, and Down to Earth. It is led by Cho, with a supporting cast that includes Havana Rose Liu, David Dastmalchian, Keith Carradine, Katherine Waterston, Riki Lindhome, Isaac Bae, Greg Hill, and Lukita Maxwell.

Afraid
was formerly titled
They Listen,
but the title has since been updated.

Now, Sony Pictures Entertainment has released the trailer for Afraid. Check it out below:

The trailer starts in a tranquil suburban home, where a family of four is introduced to their new AI system, called “Aia.” At first, the family is pleased by this development, before Aia starts to take too much control, including bribing the children with “points” for things like going to school. The scene shortly transitions into something far more sinister as Aia takes over the house and lures the children in with the allure of revealing what she looks like.

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Based on the trailer, it seems that Afraid is the latest addition to the increasingly popular genre of AI-based films. Theaters saw this last year with M3GAN, a wildly popular Blumhouse film that focuses on an AI-assisted doll that is created to help a grieving child. Movies such as Her have featured plots revolving around operating systems before, which is what Afraid seems to do by presenting Aia as an omnipotent non-human before revealing that she may in fact have a monstrous figure.

Afraid is set for theatrical release on August 30, before the next wave of Halloween-centric horror releases comes. That said, the film will still have some significant competition as it hits theaters this summer. Two weeks earlier, the sci-fi horror sequel Alien: Romulus will be released, and on August 23, The Crow will make its debut. While the latter title is not strictly a horror film, its hyper-violent premise might draw in similar audiences, thus potentially competing with Afraid.

Afraid’s intense competition does not stop with Alien: Romulus and The Crow. A week into Afraid’s release, A24’s The Front Room hits theaters. This film has an entirely different plot from something like Afraid, focusing on a more family-based drama with fewer sci-fi elements, but nonetheless, is a fellow genre film that could detract audiences from Afraid. The Cho-led movie will benefit from the fact that AI is such a topic of interest as of late, but its path to box office victory could be an uphill climb.

Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Afraid (2024) Director Chris Weitz Release Date August 30, 2024 Writers Chris Weitz Cast John Cho , Katherine Waterston , Greg Hill , Riki Lindhome , Lukita Maxwell , Keith Carradine , Havana Rose Liu , Ben Youcef Character(s) Curtis Main Genre Sci-Fi Expand