The Programme

Directed by Sam Grierson

Bader Media Entertainment

2024



Filmed in Birmingham, Sam Grierson’s short The Programme is a dialogue-heavy, rather blunt movie about identity and how artificial intelligence risks lumping us into binary categories.

Michelle Jeram plays Drum, a non-binary, neurodivergent ex-police officer who is dealing with the trauma of their sister’s untimely passing. The film opens with Drum attending an AI-led interview, which is focused on loneliness.

As the only character – barring a brief scene with a receptionist (Lucy Wells), and the intentionally robotic AI voiceover (Sherise Blackman) – Jeram works hard to carry the film. Her excellent performance cuts through the wordy scripting, providing real emotional depth in the brief runtime. Most affecting is when Drum is instructed to differentiate between being alone and loneliness.

It’s a deftly handled moment by all involved.

Unfortunately, Grierson backs themself into a corner with the setup of the film. Pairing a human character with an AI and expecting that to carry the film for its runtime leads to some rather blunt handling of the themes. The AI sets out the parameters, and Jeram is forced to fill in the gaps with exposition. Ironically, this helps to strengthen the points about categorisation and identity, but it doesn’t always make for entertaining viewing.

Thematically, The Programme is hugely ambitious. Tackling more topics and cramming in more backstory for the lead in its twenty minutes than many full-length films attempt. This ambition doesn’t always pay off, with its limitations forcing the film to rely on exposition, but it deals with the themes with compassion and is clearly a very personal project for Grierson.

★★★½

3.5 / 5

Matthew Tilt

Twitter @Matthew_Tilt