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This is a science fiction film, but like all excellent movies in the genre, the focus never strays from the human heart.
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90A quietly impassioned, genuinely stirring indie rarity.
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The subtext is singular: The presence of potentially dehumanizing technology serves to make the characters seem more human.
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78As a complete work, Robot Stories is a solid collection.
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75Four stories with automatons as important characters...The last is the most touching, but all are skillfully made.
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75The stories are sharply written and well composed. Some are high tech on a low-tech budget, but where they find their strength -- in the emotions of their characters -- money is no object.
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75If you ever wondered how robots make love, here's your chance to find out.
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75In Robot Stories, technology hasn't colonized human life, it's finding ways to make living (and loving) better.
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75The collection can be summed up in four words I never thought I'd see together: science-fiction chamber music.
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70Each of the stories, impeccably staged and acted, has just the right length, well befitting the slight aspects of their story lines. Never allowing preciousness or ponderousness to infuse the material, filmmaker Pak demonstrates a real talent for concise storytelling marked by poignancy and humor.
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70Ostensibly about artificial life forms, each of these four short, expertly crafted stories offers a poignant perspective on what it means to be human.
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70I was hoping to be blown away, but was left feeling much like the iPerson in the "Machine Love" segment -- kind of cold.
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70This is a heartfelt endeavor, given weight by Shimono's extraordinary performance, in which the actor uses the subtlest flicks of his weary brow to call forth torrents of sorrow and minefields of regret.
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70Pak's writing has a simplicity that belies the film's emotional impact.
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70The most startling aspect of Robot Stories is not the mix that the director built from spare parts left on the curb but the evolving dramatic acumen of its maker; he's a talent with a future.
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70Greg Pak understands the short form well, mercifully avoiding blatant O'Henry twists while pulling off neat reversals of expertly set-up genre expectations.
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Most of the performances are excellent. The scripts, however, are slight and unsurprising.
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50Disappointing.
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10Robot Stories isn't any good. I don't say this lightly. There's no pleasure in giving new directors bad reviews and it's especially unpleasant when what's wrong with their work isn't a clumsy performance or two, a sagging second act or a repugnant worldview, but a near-total absence of filmmaking talent.