Another movie on this list that uses a populist topic to serve as a window into a much more interesting idea, Her sold itself as a cautionary tale about the growing role technology has in modern relationships, but wound up instead being something much more simple; a love story. If anything, the film almost delights in going further than the audience expects; five minutes in and you're watching Joaquin Phoenix having necro-zoophilic phone sex. These sort of moments (hookers act as physical bodies for romantically tied-up OS') sound churlish out of context, but it's all to build a well-rounded world, adding to the genuine emotion of Phoenix's Theodore's relationship with his Siri-like operating system. The central pair (Scarlett Johansson voices Samantha) are perfect in every regard, and although there's interest in seeing such a relationship become socially acceptable, it's the intimate moments that work separate to the technological divide which really stand out - a heart-breaking realisation of emotional differences or a "sex" scene that plunges the audience into darkness as the two groan. Spike Jonze continues to be a director whom the label of artist feels more than apt, delivering a fourth film it's impossible to not come out utterly changed after seeing.
