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''BlinkyTM'' (stylized as ''Blinky™'') is a 2011 Irish-American short
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
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horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
written, edited, and directed by
Ruairí Robinson Ruairí Robinson is an Irish film director and writer. Biography He is known mainly for his science-fiction short films and animations, one of which, ''Fifty Percent Grey'', was nominated for an Academy Award. ''Fifty Percent Grey'' was also ...
. The film stars Max Records, Robinson, Jenni Fontana, and James Nardini. It tells the story of a boy who adopts a robot and begins neglecting it, until the robot complies with commands to murder. The film was released on March 20, 2011.


Plot

In the near future, where robotics have greatly evolved, Alex is looking for the normal loving family that he doesn't have - his parents are always too busy fighting with each other to worry about the effect on him. After seeing an advertisement for a domestic robot named 'Blinky', he asks his parents for one for Christmas, hoping that it will bring his family together as is shown in the advert. Blinky's advertisement and conduct at this point indicate that Blinky is specifically designed to provide friendship to its masters. After obtaining Blinky and playing with him for a while, shown in a home-video style montage, Alex feels disappointment in the fact that Blinky hasn't changed anything and his parents continue to argue. Eventually, Alex becomes tired of the robot and ignores him, even when Blinky persistently asks to play games. After leaving Blinky to count down from 1 million outside in the rain in a game of Hide and Seek, Alex becomes frustrated and gives Blinky multiple conflicting orders, such as telling him to be still and at the same time cleaning up, as well as telling him to kill both his parents, himself, their dog and everyone else in his rage, leading Blinky to malfunction. After Alex informs his mother about the glitched robot and that they need to buy a new one, she suggests rebooting him, and that Alex must clean up the mess he made or she will tell Blinky to ″clean imup and cook imfor dinner". Alex reboots Blinky, appearing to have reverted to factory settings, and asking Alex "will you be my best friend?" Alex continues to ignore Blinky as normal. Soon afterwards, Blinky starts to behave abnormally, such as showing up in Alex's room overnight, and continuing the count down from before. The next day the family dog appears to be gone, with Alex believing that the robot had something to do with it. He tells his mother his forebodings, but she thinks he's just already tired of Blinky and wants a new robot. The next day Alex goes into another rage with Blinky, throwing an electronic tablet at him. The tablet simply shatters glass throughout the room, causing no damage to Blinky. Alex gets even angrier and blames the mess on Blinky, so Blinky retreats to the kitchen to 'clean', counting down from 10 and grabbing an electric knife from the drawers, proclaiming "ready or not, here I come". That evening, both parents are eating dinner at the table, with Blinky present and Alex's seat empty. As Alex's mother asks Blinky if he has seen Alex, the robot replies that he is right there at the table, and reveals that he has carried out both his and the mother's 'command' from before: he has killed Alex, cleaned him and cooked him into meatballs, which they are now eating. The parents scream in horror as Blinky asks if he has "done good". While a TV advertisement orders the people to contact immediately if Blinky acts abnormally, the police arrive at the house as Blinky is cleaning up supposedly the parents' blood. He lets two officers into the house, and shuts the door behind them. The last shot shows Blinky as he kills his next victims, himself and the camera covered in blood, as he carries out Alex's past 'commands' to kill everybody.


Cast

*
Max Records Maxwell Records (born June 18, 1997) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Max in the film ''Where the Wild Things Are'', for which he won the 2009 Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film, and as Slater Pedu ...
as Alex Neville *
Ruairí Robinson Ruairí Robinson is an Irish film director and writer. Biography He is known mainly for his science-fiction short films and animations, one of which, ''Fifty Percent Grey'', was nominated for an Academy Award. ''Fifty Percent Grey'' was also ...
as Blinky (voice) *Jenni Fontana as Mrs. Neville *James Nardini as Mr. Neville *
Joe Childs Joseph Childs (1884–1958) was a French-born, British-based flat racing jockey. He won fifteen British Classics in a 35-year career, the last ten years of which were spent as jockey to King George V. He was known for riding a slow, waiting ra ...
as Blinky's performance capture


Production

''BlinkyTM'' was based on a short story by writer/director
Ruairí Robinson Ruairí Robinson is an Irish film director and writer. Biography He is known mainly for his science-fiction short films and animations, one of which, ''Fifty Percent Grey'', was nominated for an Academy Award. ''Fifty Percent Grey'' was also ...
. The film was shot in
Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California Granada Hills is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community has a sports program and a range of city recreation centers. The neighborhood has fourteen public and ten private schools. Histo ...
.


External links

*{{IMDb title, 1520494, BlinkyTM
BlinkyTM on YouTube
2011 films American horror short films Irish short films American science fiction short films 2011 short films Robot films American robot films Films scored by Ólafur Arnalds English-language Irish films 2010s American films