Netflix ‘Next Gen’: Robots are our future

By Maddie Barrett

Netflix released an animated movie called “Next Gen” on Sept 7. This movie takes viewers on an adventure about what it’s truly like to live with robots as normal members of society.

 

The film’s underlying theme takes viewers through what future life can look like. Generations now are blatantly addicted to their phones and to technology; “Next Gen” takes it to the extreme and adds robots instead of phones.

 

As the story progresses, the main character Mai’s mother, bonds with the new Gen 6 robot while Mai bonds with a robot named “Project 77,” voiced by John Krasinski, who helps her with everyday life.

 

Project 77 develops more and more human-like and has different expressions. Although Krasinski is a fantastic actor, his voice takes away from the actual storyline. It’s hard to remember that he is, in fact a robot because of his emotions and voice.

 

At the end of the film,similar to other animated movies everything is okay. Mai teaches Project 77 different things and vice versa, like playing soccer. In the end, she finally gets to play soccer and project 77 joins her.

 

Maybe robots can become part of our world, and we can learn to live with our differences.

 

This isn’t just your basic children’s movie, though. The underlying theme that we as a generation are addicted to our phones is still present. It’s evident that the writers wanted adults watching the film to know that. Even though children may not understand these themes, it’s still important to note.

 

“Next Gen” can be streamed on Netflix.