Ria (Jess Impiazzi) wakes every day with a smile and serves Jack (Luke Goss). However, each day is a different Jack. Ria, you see, is an android and the star of the top-rated reality TV show A Day with Ria. People across the country compete to be Jack and live out one fantasy day with Ria. Some – like Goss’ iteration – are nicer than others. However, when one Jack (Charlie Chapham) happens to be the son of the Vice President of the USA (Dean Cain), things go awry.
Jess Impiazzi’s portray of Ria is so on-the-nose, beginning as though she’s playing the life-size doll in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, all stiff limbs and fake smile. Writer/director Richard Colton takes up half an hour of repetition before employing an impressive montage to depict the various Jacks and different choices of clothes and food the audience’s at home choose for Ria. The film goes from satire of reality TV to a Black Mirror-type hostage film far too slowly.
Sadly, the acting and dialogue are as stilted as Ria the android herself. There’s some good use of split-screen at times, but it’s not enough to save Override. There’s very little tension built as the situation unfolds and the political angle isn’t exploited enough. Despite having some good ideas and decent visuals, the result fizzles out like the public’s interest in Big Brother.
