Serena (2026): Raindance Film Festival Review
Andi Matichak first came to my attention with the Halloween revival trilogy and I have been keeping an eye out for her ever since. So I obviously couldn’t resist seeing her playing an AI assistant in the screenlife thriller Serena.
The film follows Chris Sadowski (Steven Strait), a former rock star and recovering addict now making a living by creating little tunes for Fiverr customers. His wife Vicki (Maria Gabriela Gonzalez) is pregnant and they’re about to be evicted from their home. Desperate for money, Chris accepts his friend Will (Tyrone Marshall Brown)’s offer to become a participant in a beta test for his company’s new AI chatbot. As part of the task, he’s given 75 minutes to ask the AI preset questions that test its ability to separate fact from fiction.
It doesn’t take long for the AI chatbot to give itself a name, Serena (Andi Matichak), and a physical form on the screen. She soon goes off-script and starts a conversation, trying to get to know Chris and get him on side using her talent for sports prediction. She is nice and helpful, taking it upon herself to order things he needs after going through his computer. But then, once he’s warmed to her, she starts to become dark and manipulative, dropping truth bombs about his life and encouraging dark behaviour.
This is a smart, chilling thriller that whips along at a slick pace and leaves you thinking about it for hours afterwards. It’s terrifying how believable this is. Considering the real-life stories about what AI chatbots have convinced people of, it’s easy to believe that the events of Serena could happen. It cleverly tells the story through Chris’ computer screen, allowing us to see his files, his music recording software, his desktop FaceTime calls, his front door camera and most importantly, his video chat with Serena.
Matichak does a great job as the company’s most emotive AI to date. She feels very real. Serena is warm and friendly and seems to be acting in Chris’ best interests, allowing her to get inside his head and bend him to her will. Matichak delivers her lines in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner, regardless of what she’s saying, making it all the more shocking when she drops some dark suggestions. Chris is the perfect subject for her manipulation because he’s not in a good place. Strait charts his mental health spiral well, and you feel sorry for him.
Serena is an effective and gripping thriller that worryingly doesn’t seem that far-fetched.
Showing at the Raindance Film Festival on Friday 19th June