Having a cracking concept can be a hard thing to live up to. Case in point – “Simulant”, a science-fiction thriller built around a slightly familiar yet generally intriguing premise. It’s an entertaining enough feature film, but one that has a tough time maintaining the kind of energy and tension it wants. Not all of its pieces fit together and it lacks a few key ingredients to make it stand out. Still, a solid cast and an impressive production value help overcome its handful of noticeable limitations.

Director April Mullen, working from a script by Ryan Christopher Churchill, does a good job creating and developing a not-so-distant future where technology has advanced but humanity’s fallibility still leaves its mark. It’s a world where humans co-exist with humanoid creations called simulants. The early generation models are obviously synthetic and are relegated to mere service work. But the newer models as so realistic they’re virtually indistinguishable from humans.

Concerned over a growing autonomy among the newer model simulants, ACE (Artificial-Intelligence Compliance Enforcement) was formed to ensure simulants followed their programming (mainly to never harm humans and to obey their human owners). Among ACE’s most dogged agents is Kessler (Sam Worthington) who is driven by a personal tragedy to prove that simulants are ignoring their programming and pose a serious threat. He believes a simulant named Esmé (Alicia Sanz) and her relationship with the mysterious Casey (Simu Liu) is key to uncovering the truth.

Meanwhile a wealthy artist named Faye (Jordana Brewster) and her dutiful husband Evan (Robbie Amell) live a comfortable and seemingly loving life together. But they have a not-so-well-concealed secret (revealed within the first 30 minutes) that eventually connects them with Casey and Kessler. From there the story slowly morphs into a somewhat lukewarm mystery that opens up some interesting questions without ever offering any thought-provoking answers.

Yet Mullen and Churchill keep their audience involved even if the rather ambiguous payoff doesn’t exactly blow our socks off. There are some crafty ideas and even occasional glimmers of brilliance. But it shows its cards early and everything afterwards plays out pretty much the way we expect. Even worse, the stakes never feel as high as they’re meant to. So even though the movie does a good job holding our attention, we never feel the gravity of anything. That’s the biggest weight holding this solid but underwhelming effort down. “Simulant” is now available on VOD and streaming on Hulu.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS