2065 is a popular year for movies: first, “The Creator” and now “Foe” (2023), an adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel set in the Midwest. AI exist and has human consciousness. Hen (Saoirse Ronan), a diner waitress (nicest uniform ever), and Junior (Paul Mescal), a worker at a chicken factory, live on Junior’s family farm. Terrance (Aaron Pierre), an Outermore representative, offers an opportunity to Junior that they cannot refuse because the corporation wields government enforcement power, which means that they have a limited amount of time alone together before they are separated. When Terrance returns, Hen and Junior are forced to grapple with the ramifications of Terrance’s offer.

Images of environmental collapse dominate “Foe,” but is not the point. The environment is the stick in this offer-take this action to save humanity or lose everything. The movie’s setting is reminiscent of “Young Ones” (2014) except this couple has plenty of water so they can take turns crying in the shower. The land and weather reflect the desiccated emotional state of this couple in contrast to their rainy, joyous wedding day. Perhaps the land also indicates human beings’ loss of humanity considering that Outermore is an oligarch’s dream of corporations conflated with the government.

Terrence took Matthew 19:6, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” as a challenge and never hesitates to insert himself into the couple’s lives and confidences. Pierre plays him with a sinister edge, but to an outside onlooker, he would appear to be a family friend catching up and having a grand, old time. If Pierre was not available, Colman Domingo would be another great choice for the role of Terrance. Many people complained about choosing a black man to play this role, and I get it. Ever since Obama got elected US President, the competent Black government official morphed into the suspicious Black government official, but Pierre did a good job so I’ll sign a waiver.

Terrance’s offer feels like he has a card up his sleeve, and it feels as if there is more to the offer than it sounds. Some complain about that premise. If there is AI, then why does not Terrance just use AI and not Junior? Exactly! The real experiment is not the overt offer.

“Foe” wears its predictability on its sleeve and demands that the viewer ask from the beginning, “Who is human? Who is AI? What is real?” The big indicator is a value for all kinds of life. The story feels like a prequel for “Blade Runner” (1982) meets “The Stepford Wives” (1975) except no human beings were harmed in the making of this film. As “Foe” settles into the rhythm between the couple, it is obvious that Hen and Junior’s marriage is on the rocks, and Terrance’s offer reignites the dying ember of their love for one another. Tasteful nudity and passionate simulated sex can be a story stopper, but it is the story as Hen and Junior become an inverted image of Adam and Eve in the anti-Eden wasteland, and they cannot keep their clothes on, or their hands off each other.

Unlike “The Creator,” “Foe” is rooted in emotional complexity and reality, i.e. The Great Divorce. The problem is that people grow, and that growth can make a couple come apart. Junior is stuck to his family traditions and the past, which endangers his marriage and thus his future. Hen, who has an unfortunate name considering that her husband literally slaughters chicken for a living, is dissatisfied and wants to move on. If you have read this far, you can probably guess what the twist will be. Outermore wants to solve the problem of your mate not being the person that you married. Outermore wants to save people’s marriages, not the planet, and finds a perverse, provocative way to do so.

“Foe” has the edge over “The Creator” because Ronan and Mescal are amazing actors who play their human and AI versions of their characters. While the film puts each version in similar circumstances, Ronan and Mescal adjust their performance to signal which version is onscreen. Ronan has been a renown actor as early as “Atonement” (2007), but Mescal, whose IMDb credits only go back to 2019, keeps up and occasionally outpaces her. Mescal resembles Hugh Dancy in “Hannibal” by seeming as if his hold on sanity is teetering yet he is stubborn and rails against the outsized forces against him.

This sci-fi, domestic drama may remind some of “The One I Love” (2014), a premise fiction film in which only a single fantastical factor disrupts an otherwise realistic world. The outlandish part is the existence of AI, and the AI being indistinguishable from human beings. The unfortunate reality is “Lion” director Garth Davis’ alternately sweeping and intimate magnificent visual desolation of nature and man-made structures.

While “The Creator” has more awe-inspiring visuals, “Foe” holds its own by rising to the challenge of finding the beauty in a dying landscape and layering futuristic technology and environments against older backdrops. The interior of the chicken factory could initially be mistaken for the space station, which is at the forefront and upstaging/mimicking the stars. Pouring blood mixed with water on the ground near the only growing tree is so evocative. The self-driving cars are reminiscent of the ones from “Upgrade” (2018). Larger vehicles move like Unidentified Flying Objects.

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My favorite aspect of “Foe” was how Junior seemed as if he was losing his shit seeing Men in Black so when it turns out that they are real and Outermore agents, it is the most unexpected twist: human beings acting like aliens, complete with experiments and probing. Human beings appear to be more dehumanizing, and the AI seem more human with their desire to reciprocate love and willingness to show weakness. When the original witnesses their copy getting sealed in an enormous vacuum seal bag, which originally looks like plastic being put on a floor, gangster assassination style, it is such a cool moment. Yes, the dialogue is heavy handed and melodramatic, but the scene is haunting. The Overmore crew morph into a cocktail party celebrating their success in someone else’s home and over the dead body of their creation. These are the kind of people that may destroy the planet just to get a chance to try out this experiment. “You are not the person that I fell in love with” becomes the central problem and solution.

Outermore evoked the reprobate vibe of “Infinity Pool” (2023). It is a disgusting cruel moment with poignant notes as some appear to comfort Terrance, who does not seem too broken up. The pat on the back did not have the jauntiness of congratulations. Such minute, nuanced moments are missing in “The Creator.”

In case anyone is not clear, Outermore’s real experiment was to see if they could make an AI that could love and be loved. They may have chosen Junior, but the real test subject is Hen, who did not last an entire day before she jumped the AI who was already more pleasant than her husband. Without Ronan’s performance, in the wrong hands, Hen would seem like a femme fatale, but Ronan makes Hen sympathetic.

No person in their right mind would believe that any marriage could survive a partner cheating even if it was the plan. Read AITA posts about open marriages. They never work unless both parties marry with that intention. “Foe” ultimately leaves an aftertaste like “Her” (2013) that maybe people cannot be happy with each other except the AI in this film want to stay with people. The trick seems to be to make AI believe that they are one of us.