Director's Statement
Marriage Unplugged is a sci-fi dramedy about the most tragicomic thing in relationships—miscommunication. In a time when AI is becoming deeply embedded in our lives, we were curious about how technology affects human connection.
In the film, our couple buys a robot to reignite their spark, believing AI can fix what they couldn’t. But instead of bringing them closer, the robot's ability to adapt to each partner's desires splits him into two entirely different beings, which drives them further apart. We loved the irony in that. The tool that was meant to save their marriage, becomes a manifestation of their differences.
It was important to us that while the film stayed lighthearted
and funny, that the audience could still relate and feel for the characters. So the balancing between the humorous awkwardness of cohabiting with a living naked sex doll and the real tragedy of a decades-long relationship crumbling was something we grappled with throughout the creation of the film. This delicate tonal shift between comedy and drama shaped every creative decision we made, from writing the script to working with the actors and our cinematographer, to developing the score and editing the film.
In the end, we hope the audience is compelled to think about how AI will shape our relationships, but equally about how the struggle to communicate with one another is an inherently human flaw, which begs for reflection and improvement.
