somebody please explain the ending - I Am Mother (2019) Discussion

[–] kadeemlive (112) 5 years ago

It's pretty much what you think it is...Assume she murdered that woman because Mother pretty much confirmed she controls all the robots. Daughter shooting the robot in the shelter was pretty dumb and pointless. Mother continues to manipulate daughter. Nothing will change other than Daughter having the ability to birth more people. Mother knows of all of this.

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[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 5 years ago

Wait..how does Mother continue to manipulate her? I didn't catch that...seemed like she was going away. Not so much, you think?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Mother couldn't be destroyed by shooting the robot, because mother was pretty much like Skynet and was everywhere. There was no one place on the robot that would destroy the consciousness of the robot, killing that "mother" robot was just like smashing a speaker at a huge outdoor concert... it might have ended the noise from that spot but the music was still playing everywhere else.

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[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 5 years ago

Oh yeah, I agree. But it just seemed to me that by allowing herself to be shot, she was signalling her resignation re direct control over daughter. She was agreeing to daughter's terms...that she'd be left alone to make her own decision and to raise her family her way.
Yeah, I expect she'll continue furthering the world in preparation, but I didn't get the impression she was going to continue manipulating daughter. Its a definite maybe, I suppose.

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[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

My take was that Mother intends for humanity to remain under her guidance indefinitely. If things go wrong again (by her standards) she will undoubtedly wipe out the new civilization and start over. As many times as it takes. Being effectively immortal she has all the time in the world to get it right. I'm sure she continues to monitor what's going on in the shelter. She allowed her daughter to destroy that droid body because it gave her a sense of breaking away. A bit like moving out of your parents' home and getting your first place.

The daughter realizes all this now of course. That Mother never truly intends for humans to be free of her control. But she understands all the technology, can probably arrange to get around some of Mother's monitoring, and is beginning to make plans in her head. I think that scene at the end when she goes into embryo storage was basically her looking around at all her future brothers and sisters and imagining the rebellion they'll launch one day.

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[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 5 years ago

Oh yeah...well said, and agreed. Mother aint going anywhere.

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[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

yea It looks like she wants to start waking embryos up as fast as possible.

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[–] SlackerInc (1101) 5 years ago

Good analysis--this makes sense to me. But what about the implication that the other, older human character played by Hillary Swank was being protected all this time to play out some kind of role (no longer needed)? What was the intended psychological effect? Are we supposed to believe that Mother manipulated everything to happen exactly as it did? I hope not.

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[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

The Daughter shooting Mother was symbolic. It demonstrated that she didn't need to rely on the A.I. anymore and was capable of raising the new humans herself.

Outside the shelter, I assume Mother will continue to terraform the Earth to make it habitable for "her children" and wipe out the remnants of the old breed of humanity (if the Woman wasn't the last of her kind).

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

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[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

Good,i agree.

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[–] rohin (3) 5 years ago

that really explains it. I just have one curiosity, what happened to the the dog? Did i miss something?

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[–] BrutaleBent (99) 5 years ago

Was around the container, when they show a shot from further away, before switching to Daughter running back to mother. ;)

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[–] Albertonersonn (2) 5 years ago

I am also a little perplexed.
So Mother tracks the outside woman and presumably murders her. But from their discussion it seems that mother had planned for the outsideWoman to find their Facility all along. And if true it’s a stupid way for Mother to allow Daughter to gain her freedom and to repopulate the world. I see no real need for this convoluted plan.
Overall i loved the movie and gave it 8/10

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[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

It was Mother's final test. As we see in the film, the Daughter's exams seemed to be more about ethics and morality than anything else, with a lot of role-playing and hypothetical. Her interaction with the Woman crystallized the Daughter's priorities, amongst other things.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

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[–] prixat (21) 5 years ago

I would agree with that, the final test was the temptation of personal freedom. She passed by deciding to return to the facility to look after her 'brother' (and in the final shot, accepting responsibility for all the embryos?).

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[–] triplea (3577) 5 years ago

It's likely that Woman was the first embryo - given the days since extinction mentioned at the start (~37 or so years from memory, much older than Daughter + there were more missing embryos alongside cremation) and also that Woman claimed to be an orphan raised by other humans etc (as a control study?).

Daughter saw that humans raised by each other are compelled by things other than the best for humanity, which was part of the test. Mother remarks how it was curious that Woman survived for so long when others didn't, as if she served a purpose - until the part where she closes the door to kill her.

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[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

Good point

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[–] SlackerInc (1101) 5 years ago

Ah, okay. That does make some sense. I was tending to agree with the person you responded to, that the plan was too convoluted (this often happens in movies, especially SF movies: they add one twist too many). But this helps.

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[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

I have my suspision The woman was APX01. 13870 days since the extenction event is around 37 years. I know hillary swank is pushing towards 50 but I don't think she knows that. She did say they found her as a baby and adopted her. Also if another robot shot hillary swank that means mother shot her as she's in a hive mind. The woman was diliberatly driven to the compound.

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[–] ThrillerTalk (1118) 5 years ago

I don't get it either but oh well. I really hope there's a sequel for that reason, and because I liked the characters a lot and want to see the story continue.

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

No need for a sequel, though. The story's complete.

Daughter is now the Mother.

And with the Woman eliminated, there's no one left to stop their project.

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[–] ThrillerTalk (1118) 5 years ago

There's plenty of reason for a sequel. Like finding out how mother does as a mother. Seeing how the little brother turns out, etc. Movies like this will always have someone try to stop the project one way or another.

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

Good points all - besides which I've learned that this film is very loosely based on a series of novels anyway, so that confirms your point about there being "more story to tell"

I guess I felt there was a lot of finality in the closing shot: Daughter looking over her brood, then right at the camera and all but saying, "I am Mother [now]."

But that's me. I'm someone who thought Peter Jackson's "Fellowship of the Ring" could function as a stand-alone movie.

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[–] funkychicken (613) 5 years ago

Yep

Daughter is now the Mother

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[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

Mother engineered the entire plot in order to reveal the truth to the Daughter, test her and, finally, convince her to oversee and raise Mother's "perfect" new breed of humans. The A.I. created a perfect woman to nurture perfect children.

The Woman was a pawn in that plan, and it's implied, killed by Mother ... either so she couldn't interfere with Daughter in the future (if Daughter was ever tempted to seek her out again) or because she might be the final remnant of the old, inferior human species. As Mother said, the Woman was kept alive for a purpose and that purpose had been achieved.

Depending on how you view the story, Mother was the hero (she saved Earth by "rebooting" humanity with improved traits) or the villain (she wiped out humanity because she had a God Complex ... or a fear of being left alone). Either way, "I Am Mother" was about her completing the final part of her ultimate goal.

I enjoyed this film quite a bit. I'll post a review on here soon.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

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[–] Albertonersonn (2) 5 years ago

Thanks Jake, It seems your analysis is most correct. It seems similar to the Matrix, where they mention that the current "reality" is the 6th version of the Matrix.
So Mother, will stay in the background, and possibly reboot humanity, again destroying it, if Daughter fails.

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[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

From what Mother said, she didn't want to be "alone". So, yes, I think at some point the seemingly omnipotent and eternal A.I. will move benignly into the background and let humans reclaim the Earth ... until it decides they are doing an inadequate job.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

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[–] SlackerInc (1101) 5 years ago

Like the Old Testamant Yahweh!

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[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 5 years ago

Yes! I agree that there was a very strong Old Testament Biblical theme throughout the film, with Mother as a severe God trying to create a Garden of Eden for her children, Daughter's desire for forbidden knowledge, etc.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

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[–] theprisoner (3) 5 years ago

What do you mean by "perfect woman"?

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[–] zeesha (1826) 5 years ago

Good job, Jake. That is exactly how I would explain it. Although, one little detail is easy to miss: the soil is desertized and the machine has to use some desert agriculture technique to grow crops. That might explain why the mother thought the original human are not good. The daughter slapping the woman face is also symbolic as if the future generation blaming us did little to nothing to save the environment.

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[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 5 years ago

Agreed

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Also please note that the Woman was an earlier version of Daughter created by Mother.

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[–] maximmm (3338) 5 years ago

I can't help but think you are right - but I'm not sure there's a proof of that. Besides, that woman said that she did see humans at some point - so she may have been a part of the last group of humans until they got taken out.

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[–] GordianNott (137) 5 years ago

I think the key is that Woman said the other humans "found" her, and Mother at the end asked Woman if she remembered her mother (knowing the answer was "no). Woman would be a failure that wasn't cremated but was instead planted in human hands to play out Mother's elaborate plot with Daughter.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

That's right. Also making the Daughter and the Woman look very similar was a hint as well.

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

Definitely implied that Swank is an earlier Daughter - there were several empty embryo slots and only one confirmed cremation

Plus, it confirms just how cold and calculating Mother actually is, to use one of her "failures" as a tool to test a later attempt.

Who knows, maybe Swank's version could've been let back into the bunker, if only she'd "learned the right lesson" - i.e., that humanity 1.0 generally sucks. Instead, she moved to the beach where, quite possibly, Mother kept her safe and well-fed until she could serve as current Daughter's final exam.

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[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Missed that implication watching the movie but it's definitely plausible. I did wonder why any surviving human would try to break into a bunker controlled by machines. Seems pretty suicidal.

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[–] mgmry (29) 5 years ago

She said herself that she had watched The Tonight Show a long time ago (or whatever the name was) that the younger girl always watched.

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[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

I didn't notice that.

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[–] mgmry (29) 5 years ago

Happens at 50:33

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[–] GordianNott (137) 5 years ago

Not disputing on this point. But in general, Woman lied a lot, such as her whole fake story about being with someone else who led the dozers away so she could escape, or all the people she lived with in the mines *in the present.* Woman lies as much as Mother if it's convenient, so I wouldn't take all her statements as fact.

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[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Yes, definitely unreliable. The truth was whatever she needed it to be at any given moment. Perhaps that dishonesty was the reason she failed Mother's exam. Academic achievement was only part of it, if you noticed - personality figured in too. A child with sociopathic tendencies would flunk the test.

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[–] GordianNott (137) 5 years ago

Good point. You made me think about it more. If she lives alone with a dog, who does she lie to and why would she need to lie? So maybe the lying behavior started while she was still a child, hence her failure of the tests. Just speculating, of course.

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[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

APX01 was incubated on extinction day 0. the movie takes place 13800 days after that which means 37 yearsa which is about the same age as the woman who her self admitted she was found as a baby.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The outside woman was the exam. As the girl passed (forego the past) she was terminated.
It is a possible AI outcome (all humans dead but start from scratch).

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[–] TheFoxcatcher (59) 5 years ago

Its a farfetched thing to do such thing like abandoning a child into the open land and then waiting for her to comeback sometime in future so that she can somehow motivate the daughter to escape, all for a test. I mean, how is the mother sure that the Woman will come back to the facility and that too at the right time when the daughter was grown up and ready for the supposed test?

The Mother didn't die at the end. How can one small CPU (attached to the mother's chest), if destroyed, end all the Robots ? She can't be so stupid.

According to me, the Mother didn't kill the woman at the end. But simply chooses to live with the woman in leisure as she is now free since she has bagged the 'Mother' title & work to the Daughter. Both Woman & the AI Mother could monitor the terraforming activities and technical support needed at the bunker!

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

The Woman's appearance wasn't necessarily chance timing.

Mother knew she was out there (because Mother probably left her out there in the first place).

It wouldn't be hard for Mother's robots to leave cans of food in convenient locations for the Woman to "steal."

Then, by moving caches of food closer to the bunker, the Woman could be led close enough to discover the airlock.

And when the time was right, Mother's "dozers" would just start chasing and shooting at the Woman, herding her right up to the airlock entrance.

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[–] GordianNott (137) 5 years ago

Agreed--Mother managed Woman like an animal at a ranch, giving the illusion of freedom in open space while herding her when needed.

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[–] SlackerInc (1101) 5 years ago

Yes, this.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

If you watched the opening sequence overlays it mentioned that it had been something like 13,500 days since the event or some such thing... that would have been about 37 years.... the girl was clearly not 37 years old and the woman from outside appeared to be in her late 30's.... so the she was probably created to begin with and somehow brought in on the test.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

If you watched the opening sequence overlays it mentioned that it had been something like 13,500 days since the event or some such thing... that would have been about 37 years.... the girl was clearly not 37 years old and the woman from outside appeared to be in her late 30's.... so the she was probably created to begin with and somehow brought in on the test.

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[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

The Woman may have been version 1, rejected in early childhood - imo because of a personality disorder. She had sociopathic traits including an almost pathological tendency to lie. Mother seemed to know this about her and warned the daughter, that Hilary Swank's character was concerned only with herself and her own future, nothing else. When I was watching I assumed she meant because the woman was human she was like that. But now I'm thinking it's because her personality profile was already in the system.

As ExTechOp pointed out in the previous posts her attempt to break into the facility at this time was no accident. She was manipulated into getting close enough to discover the bunker and, once there, given no choice by the attacking guard droids but to seek refuge inside.

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[–] Hans-Wilhelm (1356) 5 years ago

I see the logic of what they were going for...it just doesn't really work for me, it seems dumb.

Mother raises and kills off all of these other children because their tests results weren't up to snuff. Now daughter comes along and her results are good enough. She's the one, the successful version. Ok.

People are individuals, everyone is different. She's just one person. Once these other embryos start growing there isn't a direct correlation that they'll all turn out like daughter, they'll all turn out differently and there is a chance the vast majority of them will turn out just like the ones she killed off.

She raised ONE human that turned out like she/it liked. That has nothing to do with all the other undeveloped humans. The story implies mother has made a new, better batch of humans. She's just made the one. Every other human will be an individual and have the capacity to be selfish, murderers, rapists, anarchists, dictators, dumb, lazy and have a value system 100% different than mother/daughter.

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

... and, Mother will exterminate them and start over.

It's only dumb because it follows a machine's stepwise logic. But it's internally consistent, since a machine is making those choices.

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[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

yep, but won't she run out of embryos?

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[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

If she can fast-bake an embryo into an infant within 48 hours I'm assuming she can synthesize DNA strands from a database (probably containing the genetic information of all pre-extermination humans) and then combine them to begin development. So she could restock the freezers with new embryos once they're emptied out.

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[–] JohnnyDoe (1884) 5 years ago

what if it comes down to the upbringing?

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[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

I[m sure mother was thinking selective breeding and using indoctrination to build the best humans. Kill all the failures and all you have left is gold. Social darwinism. Statisticly speaking their are a lot of genetic components to aggressive behavior that can't be ignored.

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