Call Me, Beep Me, If You Want to Solve Crime (?)
In 2020, John Babu’s film The inTEXTigator took our pandemic ridden world by storm. Set in a parallel future—or, let's be honest, what looks pretty close to the present world—the Toronto police have developed a highly calculative A.I. named Sherlock—yes, as in Holmes—to help solve cold cases using smartphone-based technologies. This first film, which debuted in May of 2020, revolved around an interview between the powerful A.I. and Liz Brown, a woman suffering after the loss of her husband. In this initial film, and its sequel that promptly followed in September of 2020, viewers were encouraged to watch through their phone screens, further complicating the relationship that we humans have with our beloved smartphones.
In January 2022, Sherlock the A.I. came holmes again (see what I did there?), this time to work with detective Leah Strade on a puzzling new case. In this third film, tensions rise between woman and machine, ultimately driving us to question if there ever can be a future where both can exist in harmony. After all, aren’t we all just a little scared we could be creeping closer to a time when we’re no longer needed by the technology we created?
Filmed with little to no budget, John Babu’s work speaks to the intricate and fragile relationship that human beings have with the digital world. The inTEXTigator films were created during the first wave of the pandemic: a time when we depended on our screens for safety and for information.
The InTEXTigator 3: The Line of the Four endeavours to unpack this complex human to tech tethering. In many ways, most principally by centralizing an A.I. character, The InTEXTigator 3: The Line of the Four goes where previous crime mysteries have never gone before. It gives us a first glimpse into what a buddy-detective duo could look like today if one of the detectives was a bodiless, pixelated A.I.
While at this point, Babu’s audience is considerably familiar with Sherlock the A.I, in this third film we are now introduced to his new partner: Leah Strade — a playful nod of course to the original character from the Sherlock Holmes universe. Personally, I prefer Babu’s fresh interpretation of the character. Not only does Babu place a younger actor body within this role, but the character of Leah Strade is also female-identifying (contrary to the original Lestrade of the Sherlock Holmes series).
Although I was hoping to see a more active involvement for the void that is Dr. Watson across the films being that Sherlock and Watson are household names, I am excited to see what Babu comes up with next.
The plot and the overall ideas behind this trilogy are not far-fetched. Actually, they’re so eerily close to our everyday lives that I found myself nervously watching my black phone screen as it lay on my nightstand after the third film. In this pandemic present, I can't help but wonder what Babu thinks of the future of policing. Are we leving the age of ‘helpful’ police body cameras? And if so, what age are we entering?
If you’re looking for a quick watch (the three films ringing in at a short, but sweet 40 minutes altogether) that makes you rethink the future of policing, surveillance, and social media, then The InTEXTigator trilogy is for you!
You can watch all three films for free here.
