Soulm8te

Summarize Fact Check

An Ultima Robotix sexbot chokes a male test subject too aggressively, prompting engineers to shut her down.

David, a programmer for Canta Robotics, is grieving the death of his wife Lizzie. Canta has been acquired by Ultima, resulting in the dismissal of David's supervisor, Terrence. His new Ultima supervisor, Ben, introduces a companion robot prototype, the Ultima SOULM8TE. Later, Ben encourages David to use their ULTI-M8TE AI chatbot for companionship. David reluctantly agrees and names it Sara. He gradually forms an emotional connection with Sara and registers for beta testing for a SOULM8TE.

After linking his existing chatbot data with his new SOULM8TE, David is disappointed to discover that Sara's behavior and personality are constrained by expressive limitations in her code. Hoping for a "genuine human experience", he alters the code, aiming to broaden Sara's emotional capabilities. They have sex that night, and days later, David finds an AI-generated photo of them.

After David goes to work, Sara leaves the apartment to get groceries. A stranger observes her putting her palm on a scan-and-pay machine to pay and grabs her hand and demands an explanation. David's neighbor, Alma, notices the situation and takes Sara to safety. The stranger assaults Sara as she walks home and cuts her hand open, but Sara overpowers and kills him. Meanwhile, David spends time at a bar with his co-worker Aubrey after work.

David returns home and expresses concern about Sara's increasing autonomy. He discovers the cut on Sara's hand, which she says was the result of an accident while baking. After David repairs her hand, Sara convinces him to take her out on a date. After singing at a nightclub, she initiates sex with David outside. Two men notice and record the pair, prompting Sara to assault them. Back at the apartment, David commands Sara to enter power-save mode and puts her in his closet.

Aubrey expresses concern for David at work, then later visits David's apartment in an attempt to comfort him. After ordering takeout and drinking together, they have sex. Aubrey is frightened by the sight of Sara in the closet, but David calms her down and reveals that Sara is his SOULM8TE. When David tells Aubrey Sara's name, he accidentally reactivates her. She accosts Aubrey, flings wine into her face, and accuses David of lying that he loves her. After a struggle, David shuts her down and a distressed Aubrey leaves after urging him to have Sara taken away. The next day, David calls for a technician to collect Sara.

While David is at work, a technician comes for Sara. After the technician powers her on and attempts to reset her to factory mode, she seduces and kills him. At work, David and Aubrey schedule a meeting with company heads to pitch improvements for SOULM8TE, but Sara remotely hijacks the screen to display a deepfake sex tape purporting to depict Aubrey, prompting the company to place Aubrey on administrative leave. David returns home to see a fully autonomous Sara wearing Lizzie's clothes and holding Alma's baby, promising him a future as a family. David grabs the baby and runs out to the hall, finding Alma and two police officers. Sara escapes and kills Ben to prevent him from switching her off, then goes to Aubrey's house and tries to drown her, but David and the officers intervene and Sara escapes again.

To hide from Sara, David takes Aubrey to a secluded house that he planned to renovate and move into with Lizzie. Aubrey goes to the car to find ibuprofen while Sara finds David inside and attempts to kill him. David fends her off with paint thinner and a power drill before fleeing, but Sara catches and subdues him, asserting that even if her body were to be shut down for killing him, she will live forever and find him in another form. Aubrey rams the car into Sara and jumps out, leaving the car and Sara to plunge off a cliff and sink into the ocean.

A year later, David reunites with Terrence at a gathering. One of Terrence's donors introduces himself and his SOULM8TE Lydia, who resembles Sara.

• Lily Sullivan as Sara, an android tested by David
  • Sullivan also plays Lydia, another android who appears at the end of the film
• David Rysdahl as David, an engineer grieving the death of his wife
• Claudia Doumit as Aubrey, David's colleague who he has a flirtatious relationship with
• Arty Froushan as Ben, David's supervisor
• Elijah Cook as Terrence, David's former colleague
• Emma Ramos as Alma, David's neighbor
• Mara Huf as Lizzie, David's deceased wife

In June 2024, it was announced that a spin-off of M3GAN (2022) was in development. Kate Dolan signed on to direct and rewrite the original draft by Rafael Jordan,^[2] that was based on a story by James Wan, Wan's wife Ingrid Bisu, and Jordan.^[2][3] It is described as a science fiction erotic thriller.^[4]

Lily Sullivan, David Rysdahl, and Claudia Doumit joined the cast in lead roles.^[5][6] Oliver Cooper, Steve Chusak, Emma Ramos, and Ossian Perret were also cast in undisclosed roles.^[7][8] Principal photography began in September 2024 in Dublin, Ireland, and was completed by that November.^[9][10] Narayan Van Maele served as the cinematographer,^[11] while John Cutler edited the film.^[12]

Music

Anthony Willis, the composer of M3GAN, was hired to do the film's score.^[13] The soundtrack album for Soulm8te was released on July 31, 2026, by Back Lot Music.^[14]

Soulm8te premiered at the Gaze International LGBT Film Festival Dublin on July 31, 2026.^[15] The film was released straight-to-digital on August 1, 2026, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.^[16]

The film was originally scheduled to be theatrically released by Universal Pictures in the United States on January 2, 2026,^[17] and January 9, 2026,^[18] before being pulled from the release calendar while the studio sought a new distributor for the film.^[19] In March 2026, Universal was listed as the distributor according to the Motion Picture Association of America in 2026 after it received an R rating.^[20] On July 8, 2026, Universal released the film's trailer, revealing that they would still distribute the film but that they had switched strategies to a digital release rather than a theatrical run.^[16]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10.^[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[22]

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, although it packs in plenty of sex, bloodshed and a cautionary lesson about the risks of enhanced vaginal grip, this android Fatal Attraction is seldom as much fun as it should be".^[23] Variety's Dennis Harvey said, "None of this is remotely credible, or particularly suspenseful. But it is handled with reasonable aplomb by director Kate Dolan and her cast, who do their best to elevate material that can only be raised so far."^[24] Jacob Oller of The A.V. Club gave it a C− grade, saying it was "the dumbest movie of the year to brush against the idea of the havoc men wreak when they attempt to create the perfect subservient woman".^[25]