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BETWEEN LOVE AND LONELINESS

Her is a 2013 science fiction and fantasy film directed by Spike Jonze.

It takes place in the near future, a modern and ultra-connected society.

The main character, Theodore (played by Joachin Phoenix), is a lonely and sensitive man. He has been separated from his wife Catherine for several months and is in great need of company.

Theodore walking in a huge city — Theodore Twombly

The beginning of a story

When he sees an advertisement for a new operating system with artificial intelligence, he decides to buy it.

Theodore sitting in front of a computer — OS initialization

At first surprised, he gradually gets to know Samantha, his OS who has no body but a very sharp mind. Samantha's voice is played by Scarlett Johansson, who will never be seen on screen because the OS has no physical presence.

Theodore and Samantha quickly become very close. The artificial intelligence adapts perfectly to Theodore and has a very rich personality.

Shapes and symbols on an orange background — Illustration of the OS visual

However, with this rapprochement will come many questions from Samantha.

Moreover, Theodore will realise that Samantha's love is not only for him. Indeed, she communicates simultaneously with thousands of people. And among them, a few hundred others also share her heart. This completely destroys Theodore.

Altered relationships

Theodore works in an agency that offers to write "handwritten" letters. A letter is supposed to be something very personal. But here they hire someone to write them for them, and on a computer.
In fact, Theodore has been writing letters for so long that he knows his clients' relatives sometimes better than they do.

This situation is quite comical, human relations are completely distorted and computers are used even to perform an essentially human task.

Theodore sitting at his desk — Theodore at the agency's office

A brief return to reality

When Theodore turns on his computer, he realizes that his operating system, and therefore Samantha, is not available. He looks on his phone and there, same thing, Samantha has disappeared. He then rushes outside and runs without stopping, completely panicked.
After a few moments, Samantha is back: she was just doing an update.

We see here the fragility of this relationship, which can waver and even disappear at any moment with an update or a simple bug.

A reminder of the other's importance

When Samantha leaves for "a space beyond the physical world", Theodore is forced to reconsider his life and his relationships with his close ones.

He writes a letter of apology and thanks to his ex-wife Catherine. This is reminiscent of his job, but this time he writes a really personal letter.
He also gets closer to his long-time friend Amy. The final scene shows us these two characters enjoying each other's (real) company.

Theodore and Amy sitting on a roof with the city lit up in distance — Theodore & Amy in the final scene

SPIKE JONZE'S FILMOGRAPHY