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Humans

Remote review: An architect in a future Kuala Lumpur comes adrift

An exploration of the deep feeling under the surface of consumerist lives, this film follows Unoaku, who never leaves her flat, as she begins to notice oddities in her slick world, finds Simon Ings

By Simon Ings

26 October 2022

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Unoaku (Okwui Okpokwasili) is adrift in her flat

Hauser & Wirth

Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi

On limited release

FROM her high-rise in a future Kuala Lumpur, where goods flow freely, drone-propelled, while people stay in their apartments, Unoaku – in a brilliant, almost voiceless performance by Okwui Okpokwasili – ekes out her life.

There are herbs on her windowsill and vegetables growing in hydroponic cabinets built into her walls. If she is feeling lazy, a drone will deliver a meal that she can simply drop, box and all, into boiling water. Unoaku’s is a world of edible packaging, smart architecture, living…

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