A dystopian sexbot flick that’s raising eyebrows and heart rates.

If this isn’t a sign of the times, I don’t know what is.

If (Girlfriend Deluxe)…, a movie about a middle-aged man and his woeful experience with a sex robot he orders online, claimed top prize at the Homespun Yarns Shorts Competition earlier this year.

Created by the UK-based editing company Stitch, the contest has been a career springboard for filmmakers since its inception in 2014.

The sexbot short’s success once again reveals our society’s persistent fascination and fear of all things related to sex and technology. Thankfully, If (Girlfriend Deluxe)… also comes mixed with a good helping of dark humor

Small budget, big praise

Shot on a budget of £1500 by Publicis copywriter Steve Moss, the short film follows a widower named Frank (Kevin Cherry) who tries to fill the void caused by the loss of his spouse with a sexbot (Devora Wilde).

Unfortunately for Frank, his purchase isn’t exactly what he’d hoped for and the experience is clearly awkward—to put it mildly.

What sets the film apart from, say, other futuristic sex tech films such as episodes from the show Future Sex, is that it approaches the dystopian subject matter with more of a wink and a smile than a heavy-handed mallet to the head.

What really gets the giggles is the horrible idea of merging pop-up ads with a sexbot—even though the Reading Tandori doesn’t sound half-bad. The film also gets some serious kudos its spots of animation, which are both touching as well as seriously creepy.

Suitably, Moss mentioned ads when talking about his win to Broadcast:

I felt so lucky to be chosen and even luckier to be the winner. It was certainly a challenge to make a film on such a tight budget but so many brilliant people got behind me and made it possible. This is my first step towards a life with less ads in!

More films on the horizon?

It is obvious that with media like Future Sex and If (Girlfriend Deluxe)… that the public is interested in seeing more films, short or otherwise, that explores the impact of technology on human sexuality.

Here’s hoping, however, that quality will continue to trump quantity and we get more flicks like Moss’s—or even better!

Image sources: Homespun Yarns