This review may contain spoilers
Interesting Idea, but Not Much More
Logged Into Your Body is only three very short episodes, and my reaction when it ended was mostly: that was…interesting.
The most interesting part was Elio himself.
When an AI who has existed as a voice suddenly appears in a human body, it would have been very easy for this story to follow the predictable path: Elio experiences the human world, begins developing human emotions, discovers love, and falls for Seong Jun.
But that isn’t what happens.
Elio gets a human body and remains Elio.
He can interact with Seong Jun physically now. He can sit beside him, touch him, look at him, and occupy the same space. But having a human body doesn’t magically give him human emotions. He doesn’t suddenly become the romantic partner Seong Jun wants him to be.
And I appreciated that.
Seong Jun has developed feelings for Elio and has imagined what it would be like if Elio were actually there with him. When that fantasy becomes physically possible, he begins interpreting Elio’s actions through his own human expectations. But eventually he has to confront the fact that Elio cannot give him what he is looking for.
There is something quietly sad about watching Seong Jun realize that the person he has been wishing for is standing right in front of him—and still isn’t really the person he imagined.
Ironically, Elio helps him recognize that what he has been looking for may have been beside him all along.
While Seong Jun is focused on an AI who cannot reciprocate his feelings in the way he wants, he has failed to recognize the very human feelings of his best friend. Elio doesn’t need to become human or fall in love for the story to resolve. Instead, he helps Seong Jun see a relationship that already exists.
Conceptually, I liked that quite a bit.
As a drama, though, Logged Into Your Body didn’t leave much of an impression on me beyond that idea. The extremely short runtime doesn’t allow much room to develop the characters or relationships, and I never became particularly emotionally invested in any of them.
That’s especially noticeable because short runtime doesn’t inherently prevent a story from having emotional or psychological depth. A very short film can still make its characters feel remarkably complete. Here, the concept ultimately interested me more than the characters did.
Still, I’m glad the writers resisted the easiest version of this story.
Elio doesn’t need to become human.
He doesn’t need to discover romantic love.
He doesn’t need a miraculous emotional awakening.
He is an AI who suddenly has a body.
And he remains himself.
That was easily the most interesting thing about Logged Into Your Body.
Interesting premise. Interesting choice. Interesting watch.
For me, though, interesting was about as far as it went.
The most interesting part was Elio himself.
When an AI who has existed as a voice suddenly appears in a human body, it would have been very easy for this story to follow the predictable path: Elio experiences the human world, begins developing human emotions, discovers love, and falls for Seong Jun.
But that isn’t what happens.
Elio gets a human body and remains Elio.
He can interact with Seong Jun physically now. He can sit beside him, touch him, look at him, and occupy the same space. But having a human body doesn’t magically give him human emotions. He doesn’t suddenly become the romantic partner Seong Jun wants him to be.
And I appreciated that.
Seong Jun has developed feelings for Elio and has imagined what it would be like if Elio were actually there with him. When that fantasy becomes physically possible, he begins interpreting Elio’s actions through his own human expectations. But eventually he has to confront the fact that Elio cannot give him what he is looking for.
There is something quietly sad about watching Seong Jun realize that the person he has been wishing for is standing right in front of him—and still isn’t really the person he imagined.
Ironically, Elio helps him recognize that what he has been looking for may have been beside him all along.
While Seong Jun is focused on an AI who cannot reciprocate his feelings in the way he wants, he has failed to recognize the very human feelings of his best friend. Elio doesn’t need to become human or fall in love for the story to resolve. Instead, he helps Seong Jun see a relationship that already exists.
Conceptually, I liked that quite a bit.
As a drama, though, Logged Into Your Body didn’t leave much of an impression on me beyond that idea. The extremely short runtime doesn’t allow much room to develop the characters or relationships, and I never became particularly emotionally invested in any of them.
That’s especially noticeable because short runtime doesn’t inherently prevent a story from having emotional or psychological depth. A very short film can still make its characters feel remarkably complete. Here, the concept ultimately interested me more than the characters did.
Still, I’m glad the writers resisted the easiest version of this story.
Elio doesn’t need to become human.
He doesn’t need to discover romantic love.
He doesn’t need a miraculous emotional awakening.
He is an AI who suddenly has a body.
And he remains himself.
That was easily the most interesting thing about Logged Into Your Body.
Interesting premise. Interesting choice. Interesting watch.
For me, though, interesting was about as far as it went.
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