By Omeleto
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Jason has just broken up with his girlfriend Natalie after she discovered he had a one-night stand. It’s a devastating breakup, leaving Jason unmoored, depressed and feeling stuck in life.
Determined to turn things around, he leans on Athena, the A.I. assistant on his phone, to help him navigate and pick up the pieces of his broken life. He begins to work out more; he eats better; he meditates, all with the help of Athena, who begins to take a key role in his life as a de facto life coach and source of emotional support.
Written and directed by Noam Argov, this insightful, funny sci-fi short looks at our relationship to technology from an emotionally relatable angle, as a broken-hearted young man finds comfort, healing and support from his A.I. voice assistant. There are shades of Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her in terms of the thematic ground covered, but this short is self-deprecating and more grounded in reality, and in look and feel it has the more muted, naturalistic visuals of the romantic drama genre. They reflect Jason’s more melancholic state of mind, suffused with sadness over his recent breakup.
Jason begins to lift himself out of his stasis, with the help of his voice assistant Athena. The writing offers both humor, heart and sharp social observation, detailing both his painful emotions as well as technology’s underlying assumptions of continuous optimization, particularly by paying attention to small, minute details, sometimes at the expense of larger ones. Athena is everything from post-breakup DJ to fitness trainer to hype man to Jason’s fragile self-confidence, a range often used to humorous effect. But the growing role she plays in Jason’s life is very real.
Actor Dan Shaked does an excellent job capturing Jason at both ends of the character’s emotional range from the heartbroken, blinkered beginning to the healthier, more self-aware one. Considering his scène partner is just a phone screen and a voice, he holds attention by playing all shades of Jason’s mercurial emotions. Yet a chance encounter with Natalie challenges Jason’s thought that he’s “over” the breakup, exposing both the significance and limits of the role that Athena plays in his life.
Smart, funny and resolutely human, “Let Me Assist You” is both a relatable post-breakup story and a sharp, wry snapshot of our evolving, increasingly interdependent relationship with technology, especially as it infiltrated even the most intimate corners of our emotional lives. The film imagines an A.I. assistant that’s more emotionally attuned than the current crop of Siri, Alexa and more, to often comical effect. But as they become more deeply embedded in the home, those assistants will likely grow more intelligent about human emotions, dilemmas and needs and find ways to “solve” things that may never be quite fixable. No matter what, our relationships with A.I. will grow even more complex, interwoven and intimate — perhaps even more so than with other humans.
Transcript provided by YouTube:
0:02
cena call natalie
0:18
jason i’m done talking it’s over nah nah
0:21
don’t hang up you have to believe me
0:22
okay
0:24
hello
0:25
athena called natalie
0:28
colleen
0:32
you’re a liar jason our whole
0:34
relationship is [ __ ] doing that
0:36
listen it was it was a one-time mistake
0:39
okay
0:42
i i love you
0:47
stop calling me
0:49
i mean it
0:50
[Music]
0:52
[Applause]
0:55
athena play i hate everyone in
0:57
parentheses they hate me by the fallen
0:59
trees
1:01
[Music]
1:06
[Music]
1:14
jason
1:16
it is okay to feel sad
1:23
[Music]
1:25
athena
1:26
hello
1:29
we
1:31
were you just i think you said play just
1:34
tell me it’s over by nikki mariana
1:39
no stop
1:40
now
1:41
[Music]
1:47
i said stop
1:49
jason it is healthy to feel your
1:52
emotions
1:55
what the [ __ ]
1:58
emotions are a natural instinctive state
2:01
of mind deriving from one’s
2:03
circumstances mood or relationship with
2:05
others
2:06
in a sentence he was attempting to
2:09
control his emotion
2:17
calling natalie
2:19
what
2:20
no
2:21
no no no
2:22
no no no no no no
2:25
[Music]
2:28
[ __ ]
2:30
mental health wellness exercise
2:33
let me assist you let me assist you
2:49
activating smart fridge
2:55
jason
2:57
smoking while in a depressed mental
2:58
state is likely to lead to addiction
3:07
jason
3:11
exercise is an easy to access all
3:13
natural activity proven to fight
3:16
depression hey athena i’m not depressed
3:19
and you’re not real so go [ __ ] yourself
3:42
[Music]
3:43
what do you want from me i want to see
3:46
you laugh again
3:48
the athena promises a journey out of low
3:50
self-esteem and into a happier better
3:53
you i don’t have
3:58
what do you mean a happier me
4:01
how can natalie trust you when you do
4:04
not trust yourself you must be someone
4:07
you can fall in love with
4:10
what’s that quote from
4:12
it is an original based on my learnings
4:14
of you
4:18
that’s a good one
4:20
jason my searches detected 17 brands
4:23
with a sale on running shoes this
4:25
weekend
4:27
shall i pull them up
4:32
[Music]
4:43
great work jason this is 10 faster than
4:45
your mile last week
4:47
thanks
4:49
you think we can get me down to a seven
4:50
minute mile
4:52
it is good to have goals
4:55
achieving your dreams is always around
4:57
the corner
4:59
hey athena
5:01
play i am by nikki mariana i am
5:07
[Music]
5:18
[Music]
5:25
natalie holy [ __ ]
5:27
jason
5:29
natalie
5:31
what are you
5:33
doing
5:35
natalie you
5:37
you
5:38
you look healthy and well tell her she
5:41
looks healthy and well you’re happy for
5:43
her you look healthy
5:45
i mean i mean you look well
5:48
thank you
5:50
happiness is the best revenge
5:52
so you run now
5:54
what
5:55
what what mental health i i’ve been
5:58
running i’ve been running for my mental
5:59
health
6:00
oh
6:01
great tell her you meditate listen i
6:03
think i should just no
6:05
no no
6:07
meditation meditation i’ve been
6:08
meditating for my
6:10
negative negative self self
6:13
talk
6:16
wow
6:17
yeah
6:18
wow that’s surprising
6:21
i mean no it’s great i’m really happy
6:23
for you jason okay this is i am a
6:26
changed i’m gonna go
6:28
wait natalie
6:29
i am a changed man
6:31
off better than ever before better than
6:34
ever before
6:42
i’m really really sorry
6:46
i really regret hurting you
6:54
take care of yourself jason
7:07
you are better off without her
7:10
i am proud of you
7:14
hey athena
7:17
i think i’d like to be by myself for a
7:18
while if if that’s okay with you
7:22
oh
7:24
of course
7:26
enjoy your day of self-care
7:31
don’t be late for dinner
7:36
i won’t
7:49
[Music]
8:11
she saw me
8:14
so i turned to face the sun
8:18
with hopes
8:20
she’ll feel the warmth
8:22
and come around
8:26
will float in space
8:30
unable to attach
8:34
oh
8:35
doesn’t it feel good
8:37
to touch
—
This post was previously published on YouTube.
***
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