More people should watch this elegant sci-fi gem on Prime Video

Archive — a weird sci-fi movie that’s being streamed Main video — is a story about robots.

Released in 2020, a trio of robots populate the world of his story. But instead of the most realistic CGI money can buy, the Archive’s robots are clearly humans wobbling as best they can in massive robot suits. It’s both hilarious and fantastic.

Archive comes from Gavin Rotary, a graphic designer who had a huge role in not only conceptualizing but also creating 2009’s gripping sci-fi masterpiece Moon. While Archive isn’t as hypnotically eerie as Moon, its assured direction and finely crafted components make it make for a hidden gem worthy of digging out of the Prime Video vault.

Theo James is the lonely central figure, playing an American robotics engineer in the distant land of a Japanese forest in the year 2038. He brings the energy of a doting father to a spaceship-like work facility where he deals with car-sized robot daughters and is on way to create a third and final fully grown realistic female robot. It’s not as low-key as it sounds.

In the opening moments of Archive, the film looks like a Joe Wright period piece. Bright lighting reveals the details of a snow-covered forest. This setting changes through the seasons as George continues his work. Repeated shots of a waterfall look like reused exterior shots until a surprising turn of events involving Prototype 2, a robot acting like a teenage girl. This robot plays multiple roles, including a villain you end up feeling incredibly sorry for.

This is Rothery’s greatest trump card: Eking’s sympathy for robots with wheezing heads on two masked human legs. In an interview, Rotary cited the Star Wars robots and the simplicity of their bucket designs as a precedent for making low-budget robots distinctive and charismatic. Spoiler: It works.

Cute robots aside, Archive explores a familiar story that has already been covered by the likes of Black Mirror. But it’s the delivery that makes Archive impressive. It’s a story about artificial intelligence, grief and loss that moves at a steady pace but always maintains enough gears to keep your focus on the screen. Surprisingly, much of the tension simmers between the robots themselves.

The two major plot threads come together for the final third, almost in perfect unison. You’re ready to wait for the mystery of George’s past to come to light as the consequences of messing with sentient robots arrive immediately. (And then the aforementioned final twist hits us over the head.)

Wisely, Archive doesn’t show its hand right away. The details of George’s work and intentions don’t become clear until the final moments of the film, but we’re given enough pieces of the puzzle to draw our own conclusions.

The Archive isn’t entirely original storytelling, but it’s one of those neat sci-fi packages that does everything well. It’s satisfying, free of meandering dialogue and looks classy despite the meager budget. It also doesn’t try to brainwash you with thought provoking ideas that require extra reading from the syllabus to understand. And scientific accuracy? Nothing to talk about, but this is not one of them these movies. If nothing else, Archive is a movie about unconventional, cute robots. Don’t say you’ve seen everything on Prime Video until you’ve seen the cute robot movie.