Apparently, Hollywood found the evil stepsister of Alexa and Josh. I guess it was only a matter of time before Tinsel Town had its negative take on the smart home revolution put on film by turning it into a mechanism for sadistic death and evil.

Yep… that’s the plot of the new Paramount film “Margaux” in which an AI voice-controlled smart home systematically murders a group of handsome and beautiful college friends (of course) who have rented the home as a short-term rental for the weekend.

From the trailers, it looks like Margaux is basically HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” with the same monotone voice, only this time it’s a female voice. And, similar to HAL, this voice-controlled smart home goes on a killing spree in which the soothing computer-generated voice of Margaux sadistically murders everyone one at a time. (I haven’t actually seen the movie and I am not sure I am willing to pay $4.99 to stream it.)

Here is how the studio describes the movie:

“What Margaux wants, she gets. As a group of seniors celebrates their final college days at a smart house, the house’s highly advanced AI system, Margaux, begins to take on a deadly presence of her own. A carefree weekend of partying turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realize Margaux’s plans to eliminate her tenants one way or another. Time begins to run out as the group desperately tries to survive and outsmart the smart home.”

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From what I can see, the 1984-style security fears are instilled the moment the troop of college kids arrives at the remote “cabin” in the Pacific Northwest. The house is called a cabin in the trailer but it looks like an ultra-modern home with floor-to-ceiling windows and a cantilevered second floor.

Immediately, the sexy-voiced home control system identifies the guests with retinal scans and starts spouting off details of their lives, presumably from instantaneous checks of the social media activity.

It appears at first the kids are enamored with the abilities of the smart home… all except our skeptical heroine. The evil smart home methodically kills the nubile young vacationers one by one while they are each in various stages of undress. In one trailer, we see a voluptuous coed in a skimpy bikini killed by the automatic pool sweep as she is distracted while watching the outdoor videowall. (I did not make that up).

In another clip, two other young lovers going at it in bed are somehow suddenly “glued” to the floor by 3D printer goo, then appear to be crushed as the ceiling crunches down on them like a trash compactor. (Again, I did not make that up.)

The plot appears to follow every horror movie cliché ever written. The current rating on IMDB is 4.3 stars out of 10. I am guessing in the climax the heroine is the only one left and she ultimately defeats Margaux in the final scene while uttering a Clint Eastwood-like one-liner such as “Go to hell Margaux.”

It’s not enough that integrators have to fight inflation, the supply chain, the labor shortage, and the slowing economy, now the entire market has to battle the negative perception that smart homes will kill you. Jeez. On a positive note… I am guessing this movie will bomb!

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