In the not-too-distant future, the most cutting-edge technology has honed romantic relationships down to a science: A computerized test can determine the likelihood of successful partnership between two individuals, and androids—known as “synthetics”—have been designed as the ideal partners, ones who will never leave. Zoe (Léa Seydoux) and Cole (Ewan McGregor) work in the research facility responsible for developing this technology, and it’s against this backdrop of romantic engineering that their own relationship begins to blossom. But a sudden accident opens a division between them, threatening their nascent relationship and pointing to larger philosophical questions about love, humanity, and authenticity.

With a supporting cast including Theo James, Rashida Jones, and Christina Aguilera, Drake Doremus’s latest sci-fi romance reexamines age-old ideas about self-awareness, humanity, and how to know when love is real in a world of artifice.

—Cara Cusmano