In 2044, solar storms have killed 99.7 % of the world's population and only 21 million people survive. The ROC Corporation has designed and built robots called Automata Pilgrim 7000 to help to rebuild the world. These robots have two security protocols; they can neither harm humans nor alter themselves or other robots. When police officer Sean Wallace shoots a robot and claims that it was altering itself, ROC insurance agent Jacq Vaucan is placed in charge of the investigation. Soon he believes that there is a "clocksmith" illegally modifying the robots. Jacq wants to live in the coast and asks his boss and friend Robert Bold to transfer him with his pregnant wife Rachel Vaucan to the coast. Robert offers the possibility if Jacq resolves the case. Jacq and Wallace go to a brothel where the modified robot Cleo attends and Wallace shoots its leg, expecting that the owner will lead them to the clocksmith. They meet Duprè but she is not the clocksmith that is modifying the robots. Soon ...

It was totally unexpected and refreshing to stumble upon a new sci-fi movie with unique character, and an interesting and gritty atmosphere created with the help of practical effects and good old-fashioned artistic vision. The robots and old technology, obsolete computers and oscilloscopes in the background were absolutely fun to see and this couldn't have been done with CG alone (something many studios are attempting to do on a regular basis now).

The movie could have benefited from a higher budget, and I'm sure the artists' vision could have been more fully realized that way, but I think they really have something to be proud of, and I hope to see more of their work.

The plot is good, could have been a bit deeper and developed a bit further. But it successfully creates an interesting world - one much better than, say, "I,Robot" (the movie). Some of the most sympathetic characters were the robots, which is not do diminish the work of the actual human beings here, but the character design and behavior of the protagonists was really believable. The antagonists, not so much. Contrast that with something like I,Robot and you can see that it's possible to make something far more original on a far tighter budget.

I really wish more movies were made with such passionate vision, instead of the Michael Bay CG roller-coaster rides being churned out each year now, as a tradition. I'm glad new authors are breaking the mold and making sci-fi interesting again.