Category Archives: Section 31 (2025)

Fritzes 2026 bonus award: Best Robots

by

0

The Fritzes award honors the best interfaces in a full-length motion picture in the past year. Interfaces play a special role in our movie-going experience, and are a craft all their own that does not otherwise receive focused recognition.

The 2026 Award for Best Robots: The Electric State

The Fritzes has been tracking robots in cinema for a few years now. My favorite from 2025 is The Electric State. The film is a Netflix film adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s luscious illustrated novel of the same name. And some of the robots we see in the film are directly lifted from his illustrations. So this award partly goes to you, Simon. 

A futuristic landscape featuring a massive, rusted robot sculpture in an urban setting, with two figures standing in front of it. Cars are parked nearby under a bridge, with mountains visible in the background and a clear sky above.
A whimsical landscape featuring a large, rusty robot figure lying in a desert setting, surrounded by sparse vegetation and mountains in the background under a blue sky.

But in the movie they are animated and voiced, and there are new ones as well, so it is its own thing. It has Chris Pratt, who is problematic for offscreen reasons, and the script can be somewhat tropey, but the film has nifty world building. In the diegesis, sentient robots are seen as enemies of the state and excommunicated to form their own outcast cities. The design of the robots betray their capitalist origins. Mascots and advertisements. Job-tailored bots. They are quirky and charming and all sizes, and help critique a system that fully deserves it.

A futuristic desert scene featuring various robotic characters and a dilapidated building with the sign 'SEARS'. Numerous robots are depicted interacting and exploring the area, amidst rocky cliffs in the background.
A vintage-style robot with large, expressive eyes hovering over a metallic trash can lid.
A group of cartoonish robots in a lush, overgrown environment, with one robot holding a sign that reads 'ROBOT RIGHTS.'
A large robotic figure with a cat-like head, holding a small person in a top hat, set against a cloudy sky.
A robotic arm interacts with an old computer displaying a smiling cartoon face with glasses, while another robot stands nearby in an industrial setting.
A humanoid robot with a baseball theme, featuring a cap and a bat, standing in a setting with vibrant colors and a star-patterned background.
A small futuristic robot with multiple limbs and tools, cleaning a dusty, neglected floor in an indoor setting.
A stylized diner named 'Greasers Diner' featuring a mechanical character resembling a peanut in a top hat and suit, standing in front of the entrance.
A close-up of a cartoonish female police officer robot with large blue eyes and a blue uniform, surrounded by various other robot characters in a futuristic setting.
A colorful scene featuring animated robots in a workshop filled with tangled wires and tools. One robot has a green cylindrical body with glasses, while others have unique designs, standing amidst a cluttered environment.
A robotic dog figure sitting in a chair with a whimsical design, surrounded by comic book covers and a sign that says 'BY THE FOOD COURT'.
A puppet-like character in a puppet booth is interacting with two people, one with long hair and the other with short hair, in an outdoor setting.
A large robot holding a vintage Volkswagen bus, standing in a barren landscape with metallic structures in the background.
A young woman with long hair and a backpack stands in an industrial setting, looking at a large, spider-like robot. The robot has a rounded head and metallic limbs, surrounded by a variety of objects including vehicles and equipment.
A barren landscape featuring large, damaged yellow duck-shaped structures scattered in the foreground, with a small robot and two figures standing beside a broken one, under a cloudy sky.
A playful robot character with a yellow, smiling face and large eyes, interacting with a person in a casual indoor setting, while a child observes in the background.
A large robotic figure leaning over a white architectural structure with arches, set against a backdrop of buildings and blue sky.

Also check out: Superman!

 James Gunn’s first D.C. movie brought Superman to life and added some things to its lore, such as: Kal-El has four service robots that support him in his Fortress of Solitude. They’re just called Superman Robots at first. Their chest plates identify them by number: 1, 4, 5, and 12. They’re on the far side of the canny rise, one-eyed and very much robotic, with charming banter. At the end of the movie, after it is rebuilt, number four dons a cape and chooses a name, and that name is Gary. Gary’s just a mensch “with no emotional capacity whatsoever”. (And that frankness is why I like Gary.)

A futuristic robot with a blue metallic face and a cape stands in a high-tech control room, surrounded by glowing circular displays and crystal-like objects on a console.
A dramatic scene featuring a fallen superhero in a red and blue costume surrounded by futuristic robotic figures and a small dog in a snowy, icy environment.
Three futuristic robots gathered in a vibrant, crystalline environment, with one robot displaying the number '4' on its chest, suggesting a moment of discussion or decision.
A scene depicting a man wearing a superhero costume lying on a futuristic bed, surrounded by robotic figures with metallic blue bodies.
A futuristic robot with a streamlined metallic design and glowing blue eyes, set against a crystalline background.

Also check out: M3gan 2.0!

One of the smart things the M3gan franchise uses in their diegesis is that AI and robotic housings are not tightly bound. AI can slip out of a housing, replicate itself, find new embodiments on the network, manage multiple embodiments, coordinate disparate housings, etc. Over the course of the movie, we see M3gan and her nemesis AMELIA in many kinds of robot bodies in many states of development. My favorite is the cute little toy that Gemma puts M3gan while she was figuring out if the AI could be trusted.

A small, friendly-looking robot with a teal body and large expressive eyes, standing on a cluttered workspace.

This decoupling is an important difference in AI capabilities that don’t jive with our anthropocentric models. Humans and animals can’t do that, so it’s something that bears literacy.

A small, round robot figure with a glowing light in its head, sitting on a wooden surface in a dimly lit room.
A close-up of a humanoid robot with exposed wires and mechanical features, set against a blue-lit industrial background.
A humanoid robot with a shiny gold exterior is seated in a reclining chair, while a person in a plaid shirt stands beside it, in a dimly lit room with an industrial ambiance.
A humanoid robot with a metallic body and realistic features stands in front of a mirror, reflecting a lush, green background.
A futuristic robot with metallic skin and glowing red eyes, pointing its right arm forward in a modern, high-tech environment.
A close-up of a small, metallic robotic hand on the floor, with a blurred human hand reaching towards it in the background.
A vintage robot with glowing eyes stands in the foreground, observing a family gathering in a cozy living room. The family, consisting of a boy, a girl, and two adults, are sitting around a table engaged in a game or activity, with soft lighting and indoor plants in the background.
A close-up of a humanoid robot with long hair and striking blue eyes, sitting across from a woman with dark hair. The setting includes a futuristic backdrop with screens displaying data.
A close-up of a friendly-looking robot with a smooth teal exterior and expressive digital eyes displaying surprise or curiosity.
A woman in futuristic silver armor is seated in a high-tech chair surrounded by wires and glowing elements in a dimly lit setting.
A dynamic shot of a person with long hair moving their head dramatically, set in a futuristic environment with glowing lights and industrial elements.

Shout out to the Act III robot design for AMELIA that references Hajime Sorayama’s illustrations from the 80s and 90s, because reference!

A futuristic robot with a reflective silver surface and glowing red eyes, standing in a modern, dimly lit environment with people dancing in the background.
Album cover for 'That's the Stuff' by Autograph, featuring a stylized robotic figure in a black outfit against a blue background.

Also check out: Section 31!

Near the end of the film, Garrett finds a Droom doll in the hold of a garbage scow they’ve commandeered. The doll has sensors to detect its context, and actuators to move the arms, head, and mouth. Its three eyes can illuminate. It has speech generation and, as we discover, general reasoning capabilities. When Garrett first finds it, it says, “Hi there! I’m so glad you found me!” It suggests play time with, “Shall we do something fun together?” and spins its head around, whipping its indigo-colored hair in circles.

A small, animated creature with round eyes peeking through a pile of scrap metal and debris, surrounded by chains and various discarded materials.
A character holding a small, designed figure with round features and glowing blue eyes, surrounded by scattered debris.

Garrett pours acid on its volatile power source to turn it into a bomb, and it begins to malfunction, uttering child-friendly things like “We can be friends forever” and dark things, like, “We’re all gonna die! We’re all gonna die!” It is released from the ship to explode in space and destroy another ship that is chasing it.

A stylized robotic creature with glowing blue eyes, designed with various textures and materials, set against a dark background.
We’re all gonna die!

The conclusion that “we’re all gonna die” is immediately true in the diegesis, not just the morbid, general version of that same truth. But making this conclusion depends not just on context, but general causal reasoning. My decaying battery is going to explode and destroy everything and everyone around it, so I’m going to shout that fact. Note it does not actually issue a warning for the owner to flee, which it should do, but we can chalk that up to malfunction. It hints that the Droom are a species with vast technological resources but troublingly weak risk assessment. All from a tiny little robot with mere seconds of screen time.

Next up: The best assistants of 2025 (currently scheduled for 1 May 2026)