Time of EVE (2010) by Yasuhiro Yoshiura [Video]

Distils the ethical questions surrounding a robotic future into a café-sized plot

Cinematic explorations of artificial intelligence are numerous and varied. With “Time of EVE”, director Yasuhiro Yoshiura distils the ethical questions surrounding a robotic future into a café-sized plot filled with colorful characters.

In the not-so-distant future, humanoid robots have become an everyday norm, serving humanity by picking up the menial tasks that no one else wants to do. High-schooler Rikuo becomes troubled when he notices that the household android, Sammy, has been making detours when out and about. His investigation leads him to The Time of EVE, a secret café in which there’s only one rule: no discrimination between humans and robots. As Rikuo spends more time at the café, he begins to question everything he ever believed about androids and their capacity for humanity.

The small-scale narrative makes for a more intimate and character-driven …