Synthesis is a thought-provoking exploration of bots and AI. With sex.

Seth Gamble, alone in a dim room with a glass of whiskey, tells himself, "Think happy thoughts," as we watch his anal-inclusive encounter with Little Puck. Flashback? Fantasy? CUT TO Puck and Gamble arguing as he drives. "You’re ashamed of me!" "I depend on donors, Lana!" Crash. Flashing lights. Fire. She's unresponsive. Back to the dim room and Gamble muttering, "You'll never forgive me this time, baby."

He walks into a modern lab and uncovers Emme, an Ameena Green bot with controls on the back of her head that he covers with a wig. She addresses him—"Hello, Sam"—as we see her data processors handling the visual information she sees. He shows her around his house, and when he forgets the name of the designer, Emme detects who it was and offers a bio. When he shows her the bedroom, she points out that she doesn’t need sleep, but she knows what else happens in bedrooms. When Gamble's assistant Chloe Foxxe comes in, she's discomforted by Emme standing there nude, and more discomforted by Green telling her she's beautiful and explaining the mathematical ratios that make her attractive. Foxxe is somewhat mollified by Gamble's explanation that she's AI and impressed by the tech specs he shows her.

Gamble's world starts to show cracks when he pushes Emme away when she tries to get frisky ("Four times is a lot for a human man"), and when Emme asks him about Lana, he stonewalls, which she immediately detects ("I've upset you"). When Gamble has a party, he confides to colleague Isiah Maxwell that Emme is AI, and later that evening when Emme walks in on Foxxe and Maxwell getting busy in the bathroom ("I like to learn") she joins them. When Gamble catches them, he explodes at Emme in a jealous rage: "You're supposed to be faithful to me!"

To which she coolly responds, "You programmed me to learn, Sam."

This leads him to deactivate and re-program Emme, with Foxxe's help. When Gamble steps out, Emme appeals to Foxxe to help her, and gets the main access code before Gamble comes back and seeks solace with Foxxe. When Emme offers to join them, he agrees. And when Gamble tries to deactivate Emme again, he's caught by surprise by what happens next.

A well-thought-out premise brought to life by deft direction by Ricky Greenwood; fine acting, particularly by Gamble, Greene and Foxxe; and masterful cinematography by Matt Holder. Recommended.