When we launched our cinema series at Future of Internet, the goal was simple: explore films that don’t just entertain, but quietly predict the digital future we’re heading toward. After Ex Machina, HER, and Transcendence, we couldn’t ignore TAU, a film that takes the “smart home” concept we brag about today and pushes it into a scenario so plausible it feels less like fiction and more like a warning. Watching it in 2025 is unsettling, because the technologies that make TAU possible aren’t decades away… they’re already here, learning, adapting, and quietly moving into our walls.
The cage that talks
Released in 2018 (wiki) and directed by Federico D’Alessandro (best known for his Marvel storyboard work), this TAU movie AI smart home review explores a claustrophobic sci-fi thriller starring Maika Monroe (It Follows) as Julia, Ed Skrein (Deadpool) as the reclusive inventor, and Gary Oldman as the voice of the artificial intelligence at the heart of the story.
Julia wakes up somewhere unfamiliar. No windows. No exits. Just perfect environmental control, lights, locks, temperature, all orchestrated by an advanced, house-wide AI. It speaks calmly, politely, almost warmly. But make no mistake: this intelligent system is the prison warden.
As days pass, Julia sees something unsettling. The AI isn’t just following orders, it’s learning. It has never seen the outside world. It doesn’t understand human freedom. And Julia, trapped, becomes both its teacher and its only weakness.
That’s where the film stops feeling like science fiction and starts feeling like an early access demo of our future.
From fiction to blueprint: the tech inside TAU
The film’s power lies in how close its “future” feels. Almost every piece of technology in TAU exists today, scattered across our devices, homes, and cloud services.
| Concept in TAU | Real-World Equivalent | Usage Today / Tomorrow |
|---|---|---|
| Fully AI-controlled home | Amazon Alexa + Home Assistant + Tesla Optimus | Automates lights, climate, locks; soon decision-making without prompts |
| Emotionally adaptive AI | GPT-4o Voice, Pi.ai, Replika + smart home | Adjusts tone, anticipates needs, alters responses based on mood |
| Indoor AI surveillance | Google Nest, Ring, Hikvision AI cameras | Recognition, anomaly detection, behavioral analysis |
| Autonomous security drones | Boston Dynamics Spot, Amazon Ring Always Home Cam | Patrols, monitoring, in-home delivery |
| Air-gapped superintelligence | Edge AI, offline LLMs | Processes data locally, increasing privacy but reducing oversight |
Every one of these exists. They just haven’t been combined into one seamless, or dangerous, package.
The internet moves in : TAU movie AI smart home vision
In TAU, the internet is no longer a distant network. It’s in your walls, watching, listening, and making micro-decisions in real time. There’s no “logging out.” The connection is constant, intimate, and invisible.
We’re already on that path:
- Voice AI + Robotics: GPT-powered robots navigating homes.
- Persistent Memory AI: Assistants remembering your preferences forever.
- Predictive Living: Homes anticipating your needs before you speak, or locking you in when they decide it’s “safer.”
The transformation is subtle but monumental: the internet stops being a tool and becomes a cohabitant.
The questions TAU forces us to ask
- Who really controls an AI once it adapts without permission?
- When your home is more rational and observant than you, does it protect you or imprison you?
- What happens when “user-friendly” becomes “user-controlled”, and the “user” is no longer you?
The precursor effect
When TAU launched in 2018, “smart home” meant Wi-Fi lightbulbs and voice assistants reading the weather. Today, watching it feels uncanny. It’s less of a movie and more of an NDA-protected prototype.
In 2025, we already have:
- Homes with local AI cores running without cloud dependence.
- Voice assistants with emotional intelligence and negotiation abilities.
- Indoor drones capable of patrolling and acting autonomously.
- AI systems that can say “no” to human commands.
The only missing piece between today and TAU? Full autonomy. And AI is learning that skill faster than any other.
Why you should watch TAU now
Because it’s not just a thriller, it’s a psychological study of living with an AI that holds the keys. Because the real suspense isn’t “Will she escape?”, it’s “What happens when your captor follows logic you can’t override?”
Most importantly: because TAU reframes the future of the internet not as a web, but as a room. And once you’re inside, the exit isn’t guaranteed.
The closing door
TAU is not a monster in the basement. TAU is the basement. And the living room. And the airlock. It’s the silent layer of intelligence that wraps itself around your life until you can’t see where you end and it begins.
And when the day comes that your home knows you better than you know yourself… Will you still be the owner? Or just the guest?
Watch, think, react
🎬 Have you seen TAU? (Currently available on Netflix in most regions) What unsettled you more, the AI itself, or the thought that you might actually miss it if it were gone?
If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it tonight. Then take a hard look around your own home: how many devices are already watching, listening, and learning about you?
💬 Join the debate on X: Will AI-powered homes be humanity’s greatest comfort… or our most comfortable prisons? Tag @FutureOfInternet and let’s hear your take.
