PremiumAtlas - Jennifer Lopez takes on AI in space; all you need to know about upcoming Netflix film
Jennifer Lopez battles AI terrorists in Netflix's futuristic thriller Atlas.
Last Updated: 07.51 PM, May 20, 2024
In the Alaskan tundra, Jennifer Lopez battled her demons in last year's The Mother. She will now confront her enemy in orbit. The multi-hyphenate actor plays the title character in the new film Atlas, a government analyst who faces her greatest adversary—the robot warrior who disrupted her life—for the first time on a distant planet.
Jennifer Lopez on her character and mistrust of AI
Lopez explained to Netflix that Atlas is someone who has become essentially reclusive. She said that no one can trust her about her character, and she has no interest in artificial intelligence. Stuck in a powerful armour suit during her space voyage, Atlas must confront her fear of technology by merging with it. Brad Peyton directs Atlas, an action-adventure film set in a futuristic galaxy.
A talented data analyst named Atlas Shepherd (Lopez), who harbours profound mistrust of AI and is deeply misanthropic, embarks on a quest to apprehend a rogue robot with whom she shares an enigmatic history. But when things don't work out the way she expects, trusting AI is her only option for preventing AI from destroying humanity.
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Trust and relationships in Atlas
The central theme of Atlas, according to Peyton's interview with Netflix, is trust and the difficulty of trusting others. The film follows a woman as she rebuilds her life after a traumatic event and learns to trust again. Having strong, meaningful relationships in our lives is essential, and this serves as a reminder of that. When you can't handle everything on your own, you have to trust and allow others in.
The plot of the film is as straightforward as it gets, according to Lopez. She thought the film was great because, despite its sci-fi action elements, it is essentially about friendship (and love, in a sense). The actor-singer always perceives everything through the lens of a love story, but this particular love is unique; it is the love of two sentient beings who, despite terrible odds, find common ground and learn to be more human with one another.
Background of the characters
Lopez plays Atlas, the granddaughter of the scientist whose artificial intelligence experiment marked the beginning of a new age. Even though that technical advancement occurred 28 years ago, Atlas is still active in the fight against terrorism as an analyst for the International Coalition of Nations (ICN). She goes out into the field to confront her "brother," the AI terrorist who spearheaded the robot revolution, after her commander approaches her with a task.
Simu Liu, portraying the first artificial intelligence terrorist, coincidentally happens to be Atlas's brother, whom her mother had created to assist humanity. Having launched a disastrous military campaign against human forces and faced betrayal, he fled Earth, spending the next 28 years killing time on planet GR39. As a seasoned ICN official, Colonel Banks (Sterling K. Brown) accepts Atlas' company on the journey but doesn't necessarily take her advice. He is in charge of the expedition to GR39.
On May 24, Atlas will be available on Netflix.