At one point, when discussing his past relationship with her, Theo mentions he sometimes still has conversations with his ex-wife in his mind. Interspersed throughout the movie are small flashbacks of his soon-to-be ex-wife and childhood sweetheart, Catherine (Rooney Mara).
In “Her,” Theo pointedly struggles with isolation after the falling out of his marriage. A report from NPR even called this recent phenomenon a “loneliness epidemic.” After the pandemic, the use of screens has noticeably increased.
Since “Her,” there’s been a boom in the use of AI with software like ChatGPT or the image generator Dall-E becoming increasingly popular. Since its release, there have been multiple technological achievements that make the love story between Theo and Samantha not look too far-fetched. How could a human being form a relationship with a piece of technology? What kind of reality would allow that to happen?įast forward to 2023, “Her” feels more relevant now than ever. When I first heard about the movie before the pandemic, the concept seemed comedic, almost ludicrous.