Set in smoggy Los Angeles in the not-so-distant future, Her follows Theodore Twombly, a sad, lonely, and desperate man. With his big moustache, glasses and high-waisted pants – that are apparently back in style – he is nerdy and reserved. Theodore makes his living writing very personal and emotional special occasion letters for other people. This proves to be quite ironic, as he does not have much of his own love in reality. Theodore is alone grieving the loss of an old relationship as his wife has filed for a divorce and has only one good friend. Theodore is very lost, going through the motions of life until something unpredictable changes everything.
Theodore Twombly downloads an upgrade for his current operating system on his computer that also connects to his smartphone and headset. After giving it a woman’s voice, this extremely advanced system names itself Samantha. It starts off with her organizing his emails but then quickly develops into a friendship. Theodore starts to fill this void in his life with Samantha as she is developing at a rapid pace. To him, she is no longer a software but is the first person he talks to when he wakes up and the last person he talks to when he goes to bed. Samantha’s wit, intelligence and warm heart captures Theodore and before he knows it he has fallen deeply in love with his “OS”.
Their love hits a couple of speed bumps when he is embarrassed about telling others about who his new girlfriend really is and when they attempt to involve a surrogate body for taking their love to a physical level. This is the scene in the movie that reminds you about the absurdity of the concept of a man being in love with his computer. This idea of people dating their “OS” becomes an actual reality, as Theodore and Samantha are not the only couple of their kind. In the end, Samantha becomes so technologically advanced that her and the other operating systems believe that the best thing for them is to leave their human relationships behind as they want to be human as well. Theodore is once again alone and is forced to reconnect with the human relationships in his life.
This movie was very intriguing and entertaining as the line between human and machine is blurred and you are reminded about the craziness involved with being in love. The amount of dependence on operating systems reminded me of Super Sad True Love Story and the need for their aparats. Although this movie was serious and heartfelt, I couldn’t help but still laugh a bit at the thought of someone falling in love with his or her operating system. However, this could be the norm soon enough as technology continues to develop at such a high rate.
Watch the trailer here