AI designed a movie for me.
For shizz and giggles, I downloaded my Lettrboxd data and uploaded my watchlist to ChatGPT. I asked the LLM, “Using this list, what is a concept for an original screenplay based on the genres I gravitate toward?” It claims the result combines my love for sci-fi, action, noir, and complex narratives with a bit of dark humor and visual flair. What do you think? Would I click on this flick if the Netflix algorithm kicked it my way? Would you?
Title: "Fade to Memory"
Logline:
In a world where memories can be bought and sold, a disillusioned former cop with a stolen past joins forces with an unlikely crew to take down a shadowy corporation intent on rewriting humanity’s memories and reshaping reality.
Setting:
A sprawling, neon-lit city on the edge of technological collapse, inspired by Blade Runner but with elements of noir mystery and a dash of sci-fi western. It’s a place where the borders between humanity and machines have blurred, and memories are just as valuable as gold.
Plot Overview:
In a dystopian city where powerful corporations control people by altering and erasing memories, former detective Alex Reyes has a problem—her memory of a critical case has been stolen. Haunted by fragments of the case and driven by dark humor that keeps her sane, Alex learns that her memories are held by Horizon Industries, a massive tech conglomerate.
When she discovers that Horizon plans to rewrite mass memories and reshape people’s identities to suit its agenda, she assembles a crew of outcasts with their own reasons to distrust Horizon. Their goal? To infiltrate the heavily guarded vault where Horizon keeps their most sensitive data, including her stolen memories.
Key Characters:
Alex Reyes (Main Protagonist): A former cop with a “missing past” and a sharp, dry wit. Her fractured memories from years of undercover work make her unpredictable but dangerously effective. She’s driven, scarred, and wants answers—whatever it takes.
Kris (The Tech Expert): A young hacker who grew up in Horizon's corporate orphanage and has firsthand experience of their memory manipulation. Kris supplies tech expertise with a dose of idealism, often clashing with Alex’s more cynical worldview.
Blake (The Pilot): A former military pilot who has been altered with synthetic memories to enhance his loyalty, only to realize they weren’t his own. He's joined the team to recover the fragments of who he was before he became a tool for Horizon.
Violet (The Actress): Once a rising star, Violet is haunted by implanted memories of fame and glamour that never really happened. She brings charisma, deception, and connections to help the crew navigate the corporate elite. She’s charming but slightly unhinged, having lived a life that wasn’t hers.
Cipher (The Smuggler): A mysterious “fixer” who brokers in memories like drugs and was once close to Alex in her detective days. They have a morally gray relationship, one that holds both history and unresolved tension.
Themes and Style:
Visuals: Inspired by the visual richness of Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell, with noir-infused cinematography and a city of glowing neon, rain-soaked streets, and shadowy corporate towers. Each character’s backstory could introduce a unique color scheme, adding visual flair to their memories or hallucinations.
The neon-drenched, rain-soaked cityscape and noir feel mix grittiness with mystery, tapping Blade Runner’s dark visuals and Drive’s understated menace.
Genre Fusion: Sci-fi action layered with a noir narrative structure. Alex and her team infiltrate Horizon through high-stakes heists, shootouts, and intense, John Wick-style hand-to-hand combat sequences and Fury Road’s frenetic, high-octane energy.
The plot’s heist structure draws from the action-packed, coordinated team effort in Heat, as well as the complex, high-energy dynamics of Ocean’s Eleven. The planned infiltration and layered twists are lifted from both heist films to keep the stakes high and the tension steady.
Tone: A mix of gritty detective noir and dark comedy, with Alex’s dry humor adding levity to tense situations. The team’s occasional deadpan exchanges add dark comedic layers similar to The Big Lebowski’s laid-back chaos and Knives Out’s witty, sharp dialogue, which adds levity to the otherwise intense action and mystery elements.
The movie could echo elements of Total Recall, Inception, and Knives Out, with unexpected twists that keep audiences guessing about who remembers what and who can be trusted. Blurring lines between reality and memory keeps the story suspenseful, grounded in thriller vibes with sci-fi undertones.
Potential Plot Twists:
The Past is a Lie: Alex discovers her memories were altered long before the “critical case” and that she may have been working for Horizon all along, enforcing memory manipulation on others before she rebelled.
Corporate Puppet Master: One of her crew is a Horizon plant with memories that allow them to believe they're on the mission, but is a sleeper agent programmed to sabotage the team.
The Memory Reset: As they get closer to breaching Horizon’s vault, the team is hit with forced memory resets, erasing hours or days of planning and threatening the cohesion of the mission. They begin using body modifications—tattoos, scars, implants—as reminders of their plan, mimicking a classic noir protagonist piecing together the mystery from scratch.
Resolution:
In a climactic showdown, Alex confronts the head of Horizon, who claims memories are nothing more than stories people tell themselves and don’t define identity. After all the team’s sacrifices and shifting alliances, Alex gains access to the vault and has the chance to restore her memories—but she chooses to destroy them, freeing herself from the trauma and manipulation while crippling Horizon’s hold on the city.
Why does the LLM think I might like this flick?
Apparently, “Fade to Memory” combines my favorite genres—sci-fi, action, and noir mystery—with a cerebral edge. The dark comedy, ensemble cast, and corporate espionage elements give it layers that could engage viewers on multiple fronts. Plus, the memory-manipulation angle opens space for wild visuals, psychological twists, and the grounded yet epic storytelling I often gravitate toward.
Hmmm. Okay. I never think of memory manipulation as one of my go-to’s. But Maybe I’d add it to my queue if the thumbnail was awesome. Hmmm.
Can Kaya Scodelario or Kate Beckinsale play Alex?
