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BlinkyTM is a 2011 Irish/American short science fiction/horror film written, edited and directed by Ruairí Robinson and stars Max Records, Robinson, Jenni Fontana and James Nardini. The film tells the story of a boy who adopts a robot and starts being mean to it, until the robot goes into a murdering rampage. The film was released in March 20, 2011.

Plot

In the near future, where robotics have greatly evolved, Alex (Max Records) is looking for the normal loving family that he doesn't have - his parents (played by Jenni Fontana and James Nardini) are always too busy fighting with each other to worry about the effect on him. After seeing an advertisement for a domestic robot named 'Blinky', he asks his parents for one for Christmas, hoping that it will bring his family together as is shown in the advert. After obtaining Blinky and playing with him for a while, shown in a home-video style montage, Alex feels disappointment in the fact that Blinky hasn't changed anything and his parents continue to argue. Eventually, Alex becomes tired of the robot and ignores him, even when Blinky persistently asks to play games.

After leaving Blinky to count down from 1 million outside in the rain in a game of Hide and Seek, Alex becomes frustrated and gives Blinky multiple conflicting orders, such as telling him to be still and at the same time cleaning up, as well as telling him to kill both his parents, himself, and everyone else in his rage, leading Blinky to malfunction. After Alex informs his mother about the glitched robot and that they need to buy a new one, she suggests rebooting him, and that Alex must clean up the mess he made or she will tell Blinky to ″clean up and cook for dinner". Alex reboots Blinky, appearing to have reverted to factory settings, and asking Alex "will you be my best friend?" Alex continues to ignore Blinky as normal.

Soon afterwards, Blinky starts to behave abnormally, such as showing up in Alex's room overnight, and continuing the count down from before. The next day the family dog appears to be gone, with Alex believing that the robot had something to do with it. Alex goes into another rage with Blinky, throwing an electronic tablet at him. The tablet simply shatters glass throughout the room, causing no damage to Blinky. Alex gets even angrier and blames the mess on Blinky, so Blinky retreats to the kitchen to 'clean', counting down from 10 and grabbing an electric knife from the drawers, proclaiming "ready or not, here I come". That evening, both parents are eating dinner at the table, with Blinky present and Alex's seat empty. As Alex's mother asks Blinky if he has seen Alex, the robot replies that he is right there at the table, and reveals that he has carried out the mother's 'command' from before: he has killed Alex and cooked him into meatballs, which they are now eating. The parents scream in horror as Blinky asks if he has "done good".

The police arrive at the house as Blinky is cleaning up supposedly the parents' blood. He lets two officers into the house, and shuts the door behind them. The last shot shows Blinky as he kills his next victim, himself and the camera covered in blood, as he carries out Alex's past 'commands' to kill everybody.

Cast

• Max Records as Alex Neville
• Ruairí Robinson as Blinky (voice)
• Jenni Fontana as Mrs. Neville
• James Nardini as Mr. Neville
• Joe Childs as Blinky's performance capture

Production

BlinkyTM was based on a short story by writer/director Ruairí Robinson. The film was shot in Huntington Beach, California.

Reception

Despite being praised for its visuals and production values, BlinkyTM received negative reviews upon its release.

External links

• BlinkyTM at IMDb

• 2010s short films