Tau (2018) User Reviews (337)

Decent little sci-fi

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 2 September 2021]

In the early scenes of this sci-fi thriller we see protagonist Julia, a small time thief, gets taken from her home. When she wakes she is in a lab and has an implant in the back of her neck. After a painful procedure she is sent to a cell where she finds two others people in a similar predicament. An escape attempts leads to the destruction of the lab but not her freedom. Her captor, scientist Alex, intends to complete his experiments; this will require Julia to do various mental tasks under the supervision of TAU; the artificial intelligence that controls the house and its systems... which include a lethal robotic sentry. If Julia is to escape she will have to find a way to reason with TAU.

I rather enjoyed this film; it may contain plenty of elements from other films but it still works well and kept me gripped. Julia is a good protagonist; tough but not excessively so and Alex is a menacing, largely due to the fact that he controls TAU and the robot. TAU is interesting too; it is described as an Artificial Intelligence but it is more than that; an Artificial Conscience which clearly has emotions. The scenes with Julia trying to bargain with TAU were fun and not too rushed. While there isn't a huge amount of action what there was, was exciting and raised the tension notably. The cast was solid; Maika Monroe impressed as Julia and Ed Skrein was effective as Alex, a character who is outwardly very calm but prone to busts of violent anger. The special effects were pretty good. Overall I'd say this was a pretty decent sci-fi film; worth checking out.

Where Do All The Review Snobs Come From?

[Foutainoflife · 7/10 · 24 February 2019]

This film is about a woman that has been kidnapped by a scientist who is working on the creation of the most advanced artificial intelligence.

I don't usually do sci-fi films but I thought I'd do something a bit different tonight and came across this. What is up with all these review snobs? It's a Netflix film folks so it's not some epic masterpiece. Did you not know that or something? Some of you review films like they are a piece of crap, former lover who cheated and has left you jaded about relationships. Chill out some and give some credit where credit is due.

This film wasn't that bad. I thought it was an interesting story and I loved all the robotic aspects. The robots were neat. The acting was decent and it is filmed well. There wasn't a lot of depth into the characters but it worked. I ended up really liking this and I really have no idea why these people are being so harsh. Check it out if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

Not bad at all, not great either

[SeriousMayhem · 7/10 · 24 March 2019]

This movie isn't very original or groundbreaking, and it becomes a rather predictable ride about halfway through. But, if you can manage to suspend your disbelief just enough, that ride is still mostly entertaining.

The acting is decent, although Ed Skrein's character is not very convincing as either a villain or a scientist. I felt the AI was lacking a bit in the "I" department and the interactions with it are mostly shallow.

Visually it all looked very pleasing, although lacking in originality.

All in all, this movie does feature a little bit of everything you might want to experience in a movie about AI. The action, the suspense, the drama, it's all there. And if you don't expect a masterpiece or blockbuster, you may find it very passable for what it is.

7/10.

definetely not perfect, but it has its strong points

[BigDaddy4000 · 7/10 · 9 October 2020]

Ok so full disclosure, ill admit this movie isnt perfect. but the thing i like about it was the fact that instead of being another cookie-cutter "A.I. is evil" sci-fi movie, the movie actually had a positive view of the A.I. and didnt label it as the bad guy. and that i think is worth some points. i probably wont be watching this again anytime soon, but i would still say this is worth a watch. salso the CGI was pretty impressive (even if it was used sparingly)

Not what you'd expect

[lewisxx-417-226815 · 7/10 · 21 June 2020]

I was expecting more of a horror/thriller by the movie description, but this turns into a more developing AI movie on the backdrop of a thriller. By the end I was totally invested in the protagonist and the AIs relationship.

Tau does not compute

[ryansalamence · 3/10 · 29 June 2018]

Psychological thrillers centered around artificial intelligence are some of my favorite movies, the genre has so much potential to explore artificial minds, as well as terrify with their capabilities. In order to do so, they require very fleshed out and smart writing, when comparing the writing of this film, especially the writing of the A.I. to that of films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Her, and Ex machina, the writing falls very short. It has a very difficult time fleshing out the protagonists relationship with the A.I., leading to many scenes that feel undeserved and forced. They wanted emotional scenes, but they didn't earn them. This on top of very mediocre performances, and character decisions that don't seem near as reasonable as some other choices they could have made. There were also a few things that weren't logical from any standpoint, but I'm willing to suspend that disbelief. I very much enjoyed the set itself, it did a good job selling itself as a futuristic film, and also made for some very pretty cinematography, using different colored lights and displays to illuminate some shots and scenes. Altogether, I liked the concept, disliked the execution.

I liked it.

[heitorrferreira · 6/10 · 28 May 2020]

I think some reviews here are way too harsh on this one. I agree that this is not a very original concept, and we've seen it executed flawlessly, even decades before. It's another angle on human-machine conflict and that's fine. I think the issue is that the script needed more coherence. There's a lot of logic issues... which is not great. But I don't think it ruins it.

This movie delivered more than I was expecting. It has great visuals, the acting is fine, the CGI is neat, the story is interesting, engaging and drives you to an experience that is worth watching. I don't feel like it was a wasting of time at all. Make some popcorn, lay on your couch and enjoy some fun time. It may be a little silly for its premisse, to be honest, but at the end of the day this movie is entertaining and I appreciate that.

A very forgettable addition to the artificial intelligence film genre

[Councillor3004 · 29 June 2018]

After her successful roles in modern cult films "The Guest" and "It Follows", Maika Monroe has established herself as a scream queen, a position which should only be further manifested by "Tau", an artificial intelligence thriller which suffers from not being able to make use of a mildly interesting premise. In terms of cinematography and style, "Tau" is good enough, not outstanding, but it's certainly watchable. However, it's the nonexistence of any interesting aspects in its script which really brings this down - everything is always only hinted at, never fully explored, not to mention that most of its ideas aren't entirely original either. Maika Monroe gives a decent performance and I enjoyed Gary Oldman's voice role (even though I can't really understand how he went from winning an Oscar for his incredible portrayal of Winston Churchill to grabbing some cash with this), while Ed Skrein's acting didn't catch my attention at all. To sum things up, "Tau" does not have the most original premise and doesn't follow up on it with an interesting plot, instead creating something surprisingly boring and dull. Just like many other Netflix sci-fi movies, I cannot recommend watching it.

I know we're supposed to suspend disbelief but...

[ornellaboasso22 · 4/10 · 17 July 2018]

I wanted to love this movie but the script (and specially Ed Skrein's character) is so flawed that I just couldn't. During the first half of the movie, he is shown meticulously arranging his torture tools, in the next scene, we see Julia steals one of them, and we are left to believe he just didn't notice?. Then while he's gone and mayhem ensues, he finds out about this only upon returning to his house? I mean the guy is literally kidnapping people and torturing them, and we're supposed to believe that he wouldn't program TAU to let him know if something weird happens, let alone if there is a freaking explosion? And as if THAT was not enough, he then proceeds to let this girl that almost destroyed his whole house to just live in there, he buys her clothes and feeds her like some kind of futuristic Belle and the Beast and casually mentions to her that the IA controlling the house sometimes "reacts erratically"... Anyway, the acting is fine, the visuals are beautiful, I love the genre and think the idea could have been great but the script is just not up to the task.

Tau: Passable slice of scifi

[Platypuschow · 6/10 · 26 December 2018]

Reading the synopsis of Tau I expected a movie like Cube, Saw, The Breathing Room, Circle etc. Namely a movie where people are taken against there will and forced to play a game of death. I love movies like that!

Sadly that is not what Tau is at all. It tells the story of a girl trapped in a house with both her captor and an advanced AI that prevents her from leaving. But to what end?

Tau looks the part, I enjoyed the setting and minimal cast but the story though interesting is badly flawed in some places and highly predictable in others.

Starring It Follows (2014) star Maika Monroe I feel that not only should the movie have been longer but maybe more should have been explained. A couple of unanswered questions left me frustrated and a couple more could certainly be considered plot holes.

This is a decent enough try by Netflix, but isn't exactly groundbreaking.

The Good:

Some nice ideas

Looks the part

The Bad:

Too many missing pieces

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Netflix is SO outstandingly inconsistent with the quality of their films

I want an advanced AI!

But seriously, this should have been one of those death game movies

Some Neat Ideas - But Falls Flat

[neener3707 · 4/10 · 29 June 2018]

Many films like 2001: A Space Odyssey come to mind when viewing this film, but unlike those film, none of it is effective or interesting, I actually had to force myself to finish it because I was so disinterested. The idea is fine enough, especially with the advent of smart technology homes, but unfortunately it is juts not effective compared to predecessors like 2001 and certain episodes of the X-Files. The artificial intelligent being is just plain old not scary or intimidating like HAL-3000, not sure whether it was the silly voice or the way its presented, but I simply did not feel any tension. While I like some of the kills/gore, which is the reason I gave it more that 2 stars, not much else was interesting or effective. I really had many hopes for this film, but the were all quickly squashed by sub-par film making.

The acting was shocking to me, as certain actors have done well in other films, but it was all just so bad, either way over done or it was simply people just being themselves as opposed to playing a character. The use of colors was also completely ridiculous, not at all subtle, the color scheme is in your face and is not artistic in anyway in films like 2001 or The Exorcist. I really can't type more, there wasn't much to this film, and what was there was bad, not pitiful, but bad.

An AI Movie With the Biggest Heart I've EVER Seen!

[tesswysko · 9/10 · 11 August 2019]

I'm a HUGE fan of Sci-fi, John Varley, Isaac Asimov, etc. and there's a simple set of rules for robots and AI. (If you don't know, I recommend looking it up before watching. ) I seldom find a movie that makes me think, or has the GUTS to bend or break the rules AND is ABLE to FOLLOW THROUGH with their decision without making a flop!

Truly when I first started watching this movie, say the first 20 minutes or so, I sat here thinking "ok, what's this going to be? Another Blade Runner clone? Why don't they do something cool like cast Lady GaGa? She's BORN for a role like that!" Then things got interesting...

This movie opens with a sylph-like girl kidnapped and put through some sort of a medical experiment/ implant, and then thrown in a cell with a Hannibal Lecter-like face mask on and 2 others with her. The 3 break out, and after events, she finds she's in the house of a brilliant, handsome, terribly cruel scientist who's been doing experiments with AI to "better humanity, " as is the excuse of all sociopaths and psychopaths like Hitler. However, his house is run by an AI named Tau, who she does MENSA- like brain tests with and as she does so and seems to have a bit of fun doing so, she seems to get through to both Tau & Alex, the scientist... but not all is as it seems.

I HATE spoilers, so I won't give any away, but I've seen so many movies, I never thought they could evoke in me the feelings that my books do, but I'll admit - I was wiping away tears multiple times! This movie seriously hits you in the feels!!! The people giving this such low reviews must be dead inside, or hate sci-fi, and shouldn't have watched this in the first place!

Pretty good for the most part

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 27 March 2021]

A girl goes clubbing, she makes out with different guys and steals their valuables. She then goes to a pawn shop to sell everything. On her way home she's grabbed by a black SUV. She wakes up in a concrete basement cell with 2 other people. They are all wearing some mouth covering for some reason. She immediately plans her escape, manages to cause a huge explosion so all three can escape upstairs to a fancy apartment. Then suddenly a metal statue transforms into a robot and kills the other 2 and grabs the girl. Then the running the place shows up.

He is Alex, the world's foremost tech entrepeneur who is working on his latest and greatest AI project called Tau. Tau runs his apartment. It controls a bunch of little flying cleaning drones as well as the attack robots but Tau also has a voice and orders the girl around. Julia and Alex come to a sort of reluctant agreement. She will submit to his experiments if he gives her clothes and food. But she continues to cause trouble. Alex conducts experiments on her to turn her mind and emotions into an algorithm for Tau and she's an excellent candidate. Problem is that at the end of the experiments the subjects are eliminated. Every day she has to do little mental tests but instead tries to find ways to escape. Eventually she engages in conversations with Tau and starts gaining its trust. Alex leaves every morning for work. His company is facing some deadline for a billion dollar government contract. Yet during conferences with his executives he doesn't care, just offers to be ready on time.

In the meantime Julia and Tau have grown close. She makes it feel like a person, feeding its emotions by reading books to it about poetry and music and telling it about the world outside. Alex notices as Tau doesn't punish Julia swiftly enough. In turn Alex punishes Tau by erasing some of its firmware i.e. It's "memories" which cause Tau to scream in pain.

Eventually, Julia's attempts become more successful with the help of Tau, but then there they also have a falling out before the final attempt.

I enjoyed Tau quite a bit, even though there's a lot that doesn't work. Tau's voice is awful. I couldn't believe it was voiced by Oldman. Terrible. Skrein never convinces. Cinematography is poor. Too often it's too dark and too monotone (usually all red). They could have done more with Alex's character. And why on earth doesn't Julia just comply for the sake of a good life or even try to seduce Alex who lives by himself. Doesn't make sense. For a sci-fi movie there isn't a whole lot of science here. The visual effects are pretty good though. Overall a strong effort that could have offered a bit more though.

If you crave sci-fi, AI you may find it passable

[milinskis · 4/10 · 29 June 2018]

This movie is for passing time, turn it on and browse on your phone. But when you start to pay attention, some of the details, character decisions and dialogues seem cringy and also not much action here, motives not convincing, cheesy turn of events. Infinity chamber also explored similar topic and it is far superior in my opinion. I can give 4 stars to encourage exploration of such topic in movies, but something in this is lacking. it's close but sorry i just can't call it decent.

Crazy Amazing!

[hailahkhaled · 7/10 · 28 January 2019]

For real this is really not my tape of movie science fiction it's not my thing But this one i really enjoyed it No doubt Netflix!

Reasoning with Artificial Intelligence

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 21 August 2018]

I don't really get why there are so much negative reviews for this movie. It's categorized as a sci-fi and as a thriller, and nobody can deny it's a sci-fi with some thriller elements. The story isn't bad at all and it's well executed so why do you even watch this kind of movie if you don't like that genre? Yes it's another movie about Artificial Intelligence, so what? That's what the future will look like so there couldn't be enough movies about this subject. Well at least if they are interesting to watch and in this case it was. It's about reasoning with Artificial Intelligence, trying to make it understand what's good and what's not. The cast is small but they did a good job. It's only at the end that I saw Gary Oldman was the narrating voice of Tau, I would never have guessed. All in all Tau is an interesting futuristic movie to watch, and that with some suspense, and it doesn't deserve that many negative reviews.

Below average...

[abhijaybahati · 4/10 · 29 June 2018]

Netflix continues to disappoint with its original movies. The original series and its takeovers seem quite good, but the movies are below average!

This seems like a rip off ex machina. There is an attempt to make an attachment between the lead characters Tau and Julia. Tau is never believable as a sentient AI. Too much plot convenience where important information like 'Tau can never go outside' is given directly by the villain himself.

Ed skrein is a single dimensional villain with no character arc. Cant believe this is the same guy who played ajax in deadpool.

Netflix guys, if you are reading this, please hire a good critics team to criticize the original content you guys throw out... sure you dont have to worry about box office, but please dont spend money to make movies with absolutely no plot!

Good sci-fi

[bnessi · 6/10 · 1 July 2018]

Good story, acting pretty good with suspense..... Do not take into consideration bad reviews, if you like sci-fi definitely worth

Not bad, but could have been better

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 3 July 2018]

TAU is another Netflix-made movie and a mix of the science fiction and thriller genres. After an arresting, hair-raising opening sequence the action is centred in a high-tech, artily-lit house which is inhabited by a crazy inventor, a trapped heroine, and a cool-looking robot. The whole story then plays out between these three characters. Inevitably the story is rather cliched and feels weak and comic book-style in comparison to similar pieces like DEMON SEED, although it did remind me more of SATURN 3. Gary Oldman is fun as the voice of the computer but too often the script reduces him to lines which sound straight out of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The human cast members fare less well, with Maika Monroe merely repeating her emperilled schtick from IT FOLLOWS and Ed Skrein having little to work with. Still, the film looks nice, it has a fast pace and plenty of incident, so it's not all bad.

Visually impressive, but really not the sum of its parts

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 7/10 · 26 August 2018]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Julia (Maika Monroe) is a thief in a futuristic society. One day, she suddenly finds herself kidnapped by a mysterious stranger, and imprisoned in a giant open space with several other people. When they are elliminated, Julia is left to comprehend the reason for her capture: twisted software billionaire Alex (Ed Skrein) wants her to solve a puzzle to help him develop some new technology he's under pressure to produce from his employers. Julia is left to be guarded by Tau (Gary Oldman), a built-in computer who can activate a robot in the corner of the room. As the pair come to learn from and understand each other, it all builds to a culminative end showdown with the deranged Alex.

We're increasingly living in a world that resembles more of a futuristic landscape than anything you might imagine in the wildest sci-fi fantasy. Devices such as Alexa and GoogleHome are part of many people's domestic life, and yet the concept of what could be is still intriguing. Tau, the feature length debut of director Federico D' Alessandro, is one such example, with an intriguing idea but not the best start.

We're introduced to a slew of characters, but sadly not much in the way of character development, leaving us with a group of people whose fates we don't care that much for. Early on, it feels like it's going to be a jumbled rip-off of other films, such as Cube, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ex Machina, Saw and The Human Centipede. After the token black guy is killed early on, it seems like it's going to change focus to being a female empowerment flick, until only one is left. But then the Tau robot emerges, and is pretty impressive, along with some pretty great special effects anyway. As it plods on, the two lead characters do become more involving, and you do want to find out what happens at the end, even if it does meander on a bit longer than it should.

Alessandro has taken the concept of only having a handful of characters, and crafted a fairly impressive debut feature, that takes it's time, but is worth sticking around for. Maybe, before not too long, you'll be able to buy your own Tau from Amazon for a competitive price. ***

Netflix might need to change their name to Dumpflix

[ScoobySnacks66 · 2/10 · 30 June 2018]

Another garbage original. Boring, one dimensional. Oldman was terrible as Tau. Skrein was forgettable. The plot was predictable and uneventful. I'm giving it 2 stars because Maika Monroe was solid.

Ignore the bad reviews.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 5 April 2020]

I'm having a hard time trying to understand why this film came in for such criticism, Tau held my attention, it was bold, ambitious, creative, and for the most part it delivers.

It boasts some really great special effects, it also has some wonderful accompanying music, plus the great voice of Gary Oldman.

It's very well acted, Maika Monroe and Ed Skrein both did a great job.

Considering it's a film about AI it successfully explores human nature, the light and dark sides. There is some real depth to this film, I enjoyed it, 8/10.

Watchabe, but could have been a lot better

[Wizard-8 · 6/10 · 7 July 2018]

"Tau" seems to have gotten a lot of inspiration from parts of other science fiction movies, such as "Demon Seed" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". But complete originality is hard to find these days, and I personally did not mind the echoes of other movies as long as the rehash was entertaining. Well, I was never bored by the movie, there are some good sets and special effects, and the performances are fine. But the movie is held back from its potential impact by some significant flaws. For one thing, I think the movie is too long for its own good. Once you get the clues as to where the movie is inevitably heading to, the story starts to feel padded out, with scenes that really don't add anything. This leads to a second big problem, the ending - it feels somewhat unfinished and not completely satisfying. Had the movie been cut down by about fifteen to twenty minutes, or had that footage contained more plot and surprises that would lead to an ending with more bite, I think we would have had a better movie. As it is, it's not the worst Netflix exclusive movie I've seen, but I've seen better on that service.

Another failed Netflix Original movie

[kythia · 4/10 · 29 June 2018]

Like many Netflix Original movies before it, Tau features talented actors, some great shots and effects, but fails to deliver a compelling story.

The trope of the mad scientist developing A.I. on his own is simply copied from Ex Machina, where it was already a ridiculous notion. Any kind of high-profile research is done by big teams working together.

Einstein did not work alone. Hawking did not work alone. And neither will the inventors of A.I. work alone. Its okay to use this plot in a comedy, like Iron Man, but not in a movie that wants to be taken serious.

Solid AI effort

[Henry-klein · 6/10 · 14 April 2019]

I would actually give this a 6.5 and encourage AI fans to watch. It could have been much better without the cheesy killer robot and plot holes with a villain who is detached from his hostage... if you are going to spend this much on a science-fi production think through the plot and details.