"Afraid", is a disappointing attempt to capitalize on the success of M3gan. Never have I been to a movie, where not only did the film crash and burn, but the entire theater erupted in a groan. Blumhouse Pictures latest horror flick centers around a family selected to test a cutting-edge digital assistant, AIA, that quickly turns into a menacing force. Think the AI voice in the movie "Why Him" turned into a horror film. The premise is promising: a seemingly harmless AI gone rogue could truly be terrifying considering how apparent todays technology seems to be tapped into what we do in our everyday life. However, "Afraid" fails to deliver on the potential. The film's pacing is sluggish, and the scares are built around painful AI renders. The tension never truly builds, and the characters are one-dimensional. The real letdown is the lack of suspense. The film's central conflict is never truly threatening, and the characters' reactions to the AI's increasingly sinister behavior are often underwhelming. "Afraid" feels like a missed opportunity, a film that could have been a chilling exploration of technology's potential dangers but instead comes across as a generic horror flick. Blumhouse Pictures has quickly gone from a studio I looked forward to seeing, to me actually considering if I should see what they release next.

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