The Devil's Machine (2019)

Antique expert Brendon Cole is hired to authenticate a 200-year-old clockwork mannequin known as "the Infernal Princess".  The Princess is reputed to be cursed; the young woman on whom it was based died shortly after its creation, and numerous other people who knew her or were close to her family went on to suffer grisly or suspicious deaths.

Not that talk of curses worries Brendon.  He doesn't believe in them.  Heck, he doesn't even believe there really was an "Infernal Princess", or that this is it if there were.  Which is probably why he feels entirely safe bringing his step-daughter Rose with him on the assignment.

Suffice it to say, Brendon definitely doesn't know as much as he thinks he does, and what he doesn't know can hurt both him and Rose ...

The Devil's Machine (or Automata, as it was titled when I first heard about it) is a Kickstarter project that I originally backed in April 2018 and which recently delivered.  It probably profits from the fact that I'm writing this review a few days after I watched it, and in the meantime I've seen a film that reminds me of just how bad low budget indie fare can be.  Which means that I really feel I should note that this film is competently lit, shot and performed (at least by the two main cast members - some of the secondary performers aren't so good).  When you're dealing with the end of the industry where $150,000 on Kickstarter makes a difference, these are by no means certain things.

Note that this doesn't actually mean I would recommend the film.  You see, although it's competently made from a technical perspective, and offers a potentially interesting if not especially novel premise, it felt to me that the script rather lost its way: first because it suddenly has a massive info dump that basically reveals the whole hinted-at backstory in one rather turgid lump, and then it plays lots of "what is real?" games that feel more like padding than anything else.

Also there's a running theme of (step-)father/daughter sexual tension that might be a bit uncomfortable for some viewers.