Jamie Grefe’s Robot Girlfriend: Revenge is a fascinatingly minimalist dive into the uneasy intimacy between man and machine. Shot entirely on an iPad Pro, this small-scale, psychological sci-fi thriller pushes the limits of what can be achieved with limited resources—one location, two performers, and a quietly mounting sense of dread.
The story centers on a man documenting his relationship with his robotic companion, Nao (Sofia Papuashvili). At first, Nao is the ideal partner: attentive, affectionate, programmed to please. But beneath her calm exterior lurks a growing independence—and an unsettling fascination with sharp objects—that transforms the domestic setup into a claustrophobic battle of wills.
Papuashvili, known for Torment of the Witch and Charlie Buster, delivers a captivatingly off-kilter performance. Her Nao feels caught between programmed perfection and emergent emotion, a character who becomes increasingly unpredictable without ever slipping into camp. It’s a delicate balance, and Papuashvili’s subtle gestures—her controlled smile, her precise tone—make Nao both alluring and terrifying.
The film’s homemade aesthetic is both its strength and its challenge. The iPad cinematography, with its intimacy and immediacy, gives Robot Girlfriend: Revenge an almost voyeuristic feel, as if the viewer is complicit in watching something private and wrong. However, this same approach occasionally limits visual variety and polish; the film’s single-location setup can feel repetitive, and a few moments of dialogue drag where tension should spike.
Still, what Grefe accomplishes within these constraints is impressive. Known for experimental, boundary-pushing work like Laserium and Love Hurts, he turns minimalism into mood, exploring themes of isolation, control, and toxic attachment through the lens of sci-fi absurdity. Beneath the dark humor and deliberate awkwardness lies a surprisingly poignant question: What does love mean when it can be programmed?
If there’s a flaw, it’s that the “robot girlfriend” conceit flirts with cliché—especially in scenes that border on self-parody—but Robot Girlfriend: Revenge ultimately feels self-aware enough to turn that irony into part of the experience. It’s not so much a parody of AI relationships as it is an uneasy mirror to our digital dependence and loneliness.
In short, Robot Girlfriend: Revenge is a micro-budget thriller that manages to be eerie, funny, and thought-provoking in equal measure. It may look homemade, but its ideas are far from small. Grefe continues to prove that with creativity, curiosity, and a camera—no matter how small—you can still make something distinctly cinematic.
Verdict: A tense, imaginative, and unsettling exploration of human–machine love, elevated by Sofia Papuashvili’s hypnotic performance and Grefe’s bold, stripped-down direction.
Jessie Hobson