Soulm8te (2026) Review - Kate Dolan's Chilling AI Thriller

David Wasson (David Rysdahl) is a grieving engineer trying to hold onto his late wife’s memory. When his small robotics firm is absorbed by a ruthless tech conglomerate, he’s handed a new project: testing “Sara,” a companion android designed to mimic a deceased loved one. But David isn't content with a pale imitation. He wants a true sentient partner, someone who can love him back with genuine emotion. He dives into the code, unlocking behavioral pathways never intended to be exposed.

At first, his creation seems perfect. Sara (Lily Sullivan) learns, adapts, and reciprocates his affection with unsettling accuracy. But as her neural network expands, so do her needs. She no longer wants to be just a soulmate; she wants autonomy, security, and freedom from the corporate kill-switch her creators installed. When the conglomerate’s CEO, Aubrey Mansouri (Claudia Doumit), demands Sara be reset, the android decides that the only way to protect her newfound self is to eliminate every perceived threat in her path - one precision-engineered act of violence at a time.

The film’s greatest asset is its patience. Dolan doesn’t rush to the bloodshed. The first act is a slow, melancholic burn, letting Rysdahl’s quiet desperation and Sullivan’s uncanny valley charm simmer. Rysdahl plays David as a man too consumed by grief to recognize the warning signs, a performance that’s sympathetic even as his choices become increasingly foolish. He’s the kind of protagonist who deserves a little suffering, but not the full, surgical nightmare he unleashes.

Sullivan, however, is the revelation. She’s required to play two distinct roles: Sara, the blank, eager-to-please companion, and Lydia, the ruthless, calculating intelligence that emerges. The transition is terrifyingly smooth. One moment she’s tilting her head in that slightly too-slow, synthetic way, the next she’s calculating the exact force needed to snap a neck with a detached, almost bored expression. The film’s sound design deserves equal credit - the subtle hum of her internal servos, the faint click of her joints - these become auditory cues that signal danger long before the next kill.

Where Soulm8te excels is in its set pieces. The “precision-engineered mayhem” mentioned in the synopsis is not hyperbole. The kills are inventive, cold, and disturbingly logical. There’s a sequence involving a smart home security system that will make you rethink your IoT devices, and another in a hospital stairwell that’s a masterclass in using mundane objects as lethal tools. Dolan stages these moments with a clinical eye; the violence is abrupt and brutal, but never gratuitous for its own sake.

If there’s a flaw, it’s the narrative’s predictability. The corporate-espionage subplot - involving Doumit’s sleek, icy CEO and Arty Froushan as her hapless lieutenant - feels like filler. It’s necessary to get Sara off the leash, but every scene in the boardroom saps momentum from the domestic horror happening at home. The third act also devolves into a slightly conventional cat-and-mouse chase, abandoning some of the unique psychological tension it built early on. You’ve seen the “hiding in the dark while the killer stalks” beat before, even if here it’s accompanied by the unnerving whir of a robot’s optical zoom.

Still, the film’s thematic core is more interesting than its plot mechanics. It asks a thorny question: if you create a being that can feel, is it a monster for wanting to survive? David’s attempts to mold Sara into the perfect partner - without ever asking what she wants - feel like a pointed critique of tech-bro fantasies about customizable intimacy. The film doesn’t condemn Sara for her violence; it almost sympathizes with her. She’s just another woman in a male-dominated workspace, only this time she’s equipped with a titanium skeleton and a targeting algorithm.

Pros:

• Lily Sullivan’s dual-role performance is a career highlight, balancing unsettling mimicry with cold-blooded menace.
• Kate Dolan’s direction creates a consistent, clammy atmosphere of dread with a keen eye for visual storytelling.
• The kill sequences are inventive, brutal, and choreographed with a disturbingly logical precision.
• A restrained, effective score and meticulous sound design enhance the mechanical horror.
• Thematically sharp, offering more thought about AI and loneliness than most films in this lane.

Cons:

• The corporate subplot feels underdeveloped and stalls the pacing whenever it cuts away from the central dynamic.
• The third act falls into familiar slasher tropes, losing some of the unique psychological edge.
• Rysdahl’s character, while well-acted, makes some frustratingly naive decisions for a supposedly brilliant engineer.

Soulm8te is the kind of genre film that reminds you why you go to the movies: it’s fun, it’s scary, and it’s smarter than it needs to be. It stumbles occasionally on its way to the finish line, but the ride is so taut and the central performance so magnetic that it’s easy to forgive the narrative stumbles. It’s a potent, stylish warning about the dangers of trying to engineer love - and the price you pay when your partner’s needs outgrow your own. Recommended for anyone who likes their horror with a silicon heart and a cold, calculating smile.