"Mother/Android," the new directorial outing from "Project Power" scribe Mattson Tomlin, takes an emotionally complex maternal approach to the robot apocalypse sub-genre. Produced by Matt Reeves and Bill Block, the film sees young lovers Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Sam (Algee Smith) attempt to make their way to safety through an android uprising before Georgia gives birth.

At its core, it's a story of a young refugee family wrapped in a science-fiction package, and it leans more on the emotional impact of the crisis than in a last-ditch effort to blow it sky high — though there's some of that, too. I sat down for a (very) brief conversation with writer/director Mattson Tomlin and star Chloë Grace Moretz to chat about the film's origins, their own involvement, and what makes it a unique experience that audiences shouldn't miss.

"I Hope That It Leaves People With A Sense Of Hope."

This is such an interesting spin on the sci-fi apocalypse story. It's so grounded and maternal in a lot of ways… I wanted to ask what drew you both to this project – or Mattson, in your case, to create and direct it – and what you think makes it something we haven't seen before?

Mattson Tomlin: Well, I wanted to make a movie, and wanted to make something good. [laughs] That drew me to it. No, for me, I wanted to tell a personal story. Your first film is important in kind of laying down a gauntlet and going, 'This is who I am.' I'm somebody who really cares about my work and the story is a love letter to my biological parents. Doing that in a way where, also taking the genre and mashing them in a way that I don't think you normally get to see. There aren't a lot of one-to-ones of, 'Oh, it's like this movie or that movie.' There's a couple out there, but they're few and far between. But then the second part of the question, the fact that there's this different ratio for what you would get from a robot apocalypse movie versus what you would get from a real human drama. A robot movie where you cry: That sounds pretty good to me. That's what I was trying to do. Chloë?

Chloë Grace Moretz: I would say that this is Mattson's baby. He wrote this story from his heart, and immediately what drew me to it was, of course, how great the script is. I already knew Mattson as an amazing writer. I trusted [producers] Matt Reeves and Rafi [Crohn] so inherently for the fact that they championed him so hard to do this as his first directorial piece. When you talk to him, there was no one else in the world who could make this project other than Mattson. This is his story. He entrusted Algee [Smith] and I to carry it with him and breathe life into these characters, which is, in a lot of ways, a love letter to his parents. It's the greatest honor you can get as an actor. So there's nothing like it, you know? I think that's because it's a depiction of Mattson as a person, too. He's able to thread this needle in so many ways where you feel it's a cathartic movie, it's a heart-wrenching movie, it's adrenaline-filled at times, but ultimately, I hope that it leaves people with a sense of hope. And that love can conquer all. It's just beautiful.

Mother/Android will be available in the U.S. on Hulu December 17, 2021.

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The post Mother/Android Director Mattson Tomlin and Star Chloë Grace Moretz on Their Post-Apocalyptic Love Letter to Parenting [Interview] appeared first on /Film.