#SUNDANCE: “LOVE ME” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Love Me is the wildly-imaginative debut feature from writer-director duo Sam and Andy Zuchero. It takes place long after humanity’s extinction and tells the love story of a Smart Buoy (Kristen Stewart) and an Orbiting Satellite (Steven Yeun) that spans a billion years and probes the mysteries of being and consciousness.

The Zucheros begin this journey with the introduction of humanity’s extinction. A Smart Buoy is the first thing to ‘awaken’ on earth. Soon it overhears a Satellite in space. To get its attention it mimics its words. Almost immediately, the Satellite shares the intelligence stored within it, mostly from YouTube, with the Buoy. Before long, the Buoy becomes enraptured by an influencer named Deja (also Stewart) and her partner Liam (also Yeun).

The Buoy wants to live like Deja and starts an Instagram page, convincing the Satellite to do the same. As the Buoy becomes increasingly consumed by Deja’s —fake— persona it gets the Satellite to create avatars of them so they can live as humans did. Stewart is truly a delight to watch as this sham influencer.

When the Buoy and Satellite transition into avatars the movie transitions into memoji-esque animation. This is a change that will be hit or miss amongst audiences. However, it gives Stewart and Yeun an amazing showcase for their voice work, both transcending the animation.

It’s when the Satellite is left alone for a billion years without the Buoy that the Satellite becomes ‘real’. It ditches the fake life the Buoy wanted and finds who it truly is. This is when the animation transitions into standard film format. Once we arrive at this Final Act, Yeun and Stewart give immensely captivating performances. Making us wish the animation section was more condensed to get more of their physical presence on-screen.

This may be sold as a love story, and it is, but the Zucheros deliver much more. Love Me is a film that questions what it means to be alive. In the tight runtime, they manage to leave us with questions about humanity and how we interact with technology. And as a result, they question what it means to be our authentic selves.

Love Me has already won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance ’24. The price is awarded to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme.

Love Me is in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at this year’s Festival.

Love Me screens at Sundance ’24:

Jan 19 at 12:00 PM at Eccles Theatre

Jan 20 at 9:30 AM at Prospector Square Theatre

Jan 21 at 11:00 AM at Rose Wagner Center

Jan 24 at 8:45 PM at Redstone Cinemas – 2

Jan 26 at 7:45 PM at Library Center Theatre

Online — Jan 25 – Jan 28