Teknolust (2002)

28% of critics liked it
(32 reviews)
39% of users liked it
(769 ratings)

In this offbeat sci-fi-drama, Rosetta Stone (Tilda Swinton) is a scientist specializing in biogenetics who has made a major breakthrough in artificial biological engineering. Rosetta has created a type of Self-Replicating Automaton, which looks like a human being, but is in fact part machine and… More In this offbeat sci-fi-drama, Rosetta Stone (Tilda Swinton) is a scientist specializing in biogenetics who has made a major breakthrough in artificial biological engineering. Rosetta has created a type of Self-Replicating Automaton, which looks like a human being, but is in fact part machine and part living organism. In order to survive and reproduce, Rosetta discovers her SRAs need certain human genetic compounds that are found only in male semen. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, Rosetta programs one of her SRAs, Ruby (also played by Swinton) to seduce men Rosetta has found through a website offering paid "fantasy dates," which will provide both needed materials and ready cash. Ruby brings back used condoms, and shares the contents with her fellow SRAs Marine and Olive (both also played by Swinton). However, after their assignations with Ruby, the men find themselves with a strange illness that leaves them with skin outbreaks and the inability to perform sexually. Two health investigators (James Urbaniak and Karen Black) begin interviewing the men infected, which sends them on a trail leading back to Rosetta and her research lab. Meanwhile, the more Ruby comes in contact with humans, the more she finds herself falling under the sway of human emotions, and she finds herself falling in love with Sandy (Jeremy Davies), a shy man working at a photocopying center. Shot on digital video equipment by acclaimed cinematographer Hiro Narita, Teknolust was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Written By: Lynn Hershman Leeson
Genres: Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 1, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Dec 23, 2003
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Foreman, New York Post
Fails as entertainment, being so ineptly directed and written it often has the feel of a high school production by kids with more money and ambition than talent.
Dave Kehr, New York Times
A minor addition to the tiny genre of feminist science fiction films.
Laura Sinagra, Village Voice
It's a quiet tour de force for Tilda Swinton.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Stumbles from one catatonic scene to the next, mixing aggressively 'clever' ideas with strident dialogue.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Sci-fi has rarely been so playful.
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News
It's the sort of pretentious twaddle that gives twaddle a bad name.
Simon Abrams, Slant Magazine
Tweaking the nose of hegemony is sometimes funny; ditto for Teknolust.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A silly mad scientist film dealing mostly with feminist issues.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
viewers have to endure new media artist Lynn Hershman Leeson's uncomfortable attempts at taking her cracking-stiff theories and translating them into dramatic narrative form
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Leeson's sensibility is a thoroughly irritating mix of intellectual hauteur and juvenile smuttiness.
Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com
A muddled mess of cybernetics and new-age philosophy that goes nowhere slow, despite its abbreviated 80-minute running time
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Can a movie be fascinating and boring at the same time?
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
'Teknolust' embarrassingly resembles insulting, insistent television commercials. Unfortunately, they may be the future.
Gabriel Shanks, Mixed Reviews
Wallows in dubious plot constructions, shoddy design, immature camera work, and a fatiguing lack of thrill.
Paul Sherman, Boston Herald
I can't imagine anyone not being disappointed by this movie, which dares to be different yet fails miserably doing so.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Clumsy, no question, but perhaps understandably burdened by its sprawling ambition.
Kim Morgan, Oregonian
The picture proves tiring, its pretty, color-coordinated images are like flipping through a funky fashion magazine.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
The plot is vapor, but tech whimsy, movie lifts and funny multiples of Swinton sustain a San Franciscan charm.
, E! Online
Yes, it's odd that a movie so focused on sex and computers could be a complete letdown, but this bizarre trip is just that.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Drew S

What an odd little movie. It's pretty much totally invalid except as a performance showcase for Tilda Swinton, giving her all sorts of bizarre alien landscapes and situations to maneuver through. Its total lack of focus makes it intellectually unengaging, it looks and sounds… More
What an odd little movie. It's pretty much totally invalid except as a performance showcase for Tilda Swinton, giving her all sorts of bizarre alien landscapes and situations to maneuver through. Its total lack of focus makes it intellectually unengaging, it looks and sounds cheap, and you don't really laugh at its absurdity like you would at most other successful comedies; you sort of revel in it. You get to see Swinton choreograph a three-person dance routine comprised entirely of herself, though, and you get to watch her say "succulent proteins" over and over to some guy at a bakery. Perhaps I'm just a fucking moron, or a die-hard Swinton fan, but little pleasures like these were perfectly worth sacrificing my 80 minutes for. Unless you really want to get your Tilda on, or you're in the mood for a super oddball sci-fi feminist curio, you could probably skip this and not miss out on much.