While Hot Spot aspires to be a visceral, carnal rebellion against accepting the violence that AI is unleashing on society, its message is muddled under layers of showy aesthetics and questionable creative choices. Smoczyńska reunites with Lure screenwriter Robert Bolesto for the script, but Hot Spot is more interested in raising questions than connecting plot points, while some of the worldbuilding is even too goofy for your typical B-movie fare. The AI system in Hot Spot is deeply flawed, and everyone must eat a jellybean a day to keep their head from exploding, Scanners-style. On the plus side, The Head allows everyone to communicate telepathically and share pictures instantly without a device; on screen, it looks like the actors are goofily pantomiming their emotions for awkward minutes at a time, straining to communicate with the audience through stilted dialogue and forced smiles. For some reason, the unplugged Rana and Djonny’s plugged-in wife Ayka (Reika Kirishima) are able to form some kind of a telepathic bond, so that Ayka beings dressing like Rana in order to instill a sort of Vertigo-esque confusion for Djonny.
But that’s just a taste of the confounding choices throughout Hot Spot. There are narrative jumps in Hot Spot that are jarring enough to throw off an audience, like when Djonny solves a crucial case and becomes the top “witch hunter in the world,” and then the next news he receives is that his son, Zen (George Aurimas Cris), is unable to control his movement and finds himself on the ledge of his school’s roof, which Djonny must run to from the hinterlands as fast as possible. Meanwhile, his fellow detective Maria (Filippa Koutoupa) sports elven ears seen on no other character and is dressed like she’s been beamed over from an entirely different sci-fi franchise—one with much more silver lamé. For his part, Djonny looks like he’s stolen his outfits from a thrift store at the end of the world, alternating between a white-and-black Tron-like body suit and a kilt with knee-high fishnet tights, sneakers, and a leather moto jacket. Ayko and Rana sport questionable burlap-like robes that cover half their faces. In a film where people have to eat a jellybean to avoid spontaneous combustion, the refugees and their costumes are maybe taking inspiration too closely from many of the real-life Muslim refugees who have sought asylum in Europe over the past decade.
Similar to Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell, Hot Spot isn’t interested in telling a traditional story, focusing instead on colorful lighting and violent imagery. Smoczyńska and cinematographer Jakub Kijowski experiment with red-blue lighting and trippy imagery to add some life to a concert, the closest the director comes to the delirious fun of The Lure, but in slowing down the action and focusing on Djonny’s crumbling state, even that reprieve feels belabored. Hot Spot is trying to say something—The Head broadcasts public executions to all of its plugged-in members, including children—but it loses interest in its own dystopia. Instead, Smoczyńska’s camera runs off to the next shot while Bolesto adds more inexplicable details, making for a sci-fi B-movie that’s fine to look at but frustrating to follow.
Director: Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Writers: Robert Bolesto
Starring: Andrzej Konopka, Noomi Rapace, Reika Kirishima, George Aurimas Cris, Filippa Koutoupa, Niki Sereti
Release Date: August 21, 2026
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