Her (2013)
A Spike Jonze love story.
In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.
In Her, consciousness is carried by machines — a plane of “digital intimacy”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing love, technology, consciousness, loneliness, identity.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Same subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Also bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
The Man with Two Brains (1983)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Ghost in the Shell (1995)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
The Animatrix (2003)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
Open Your Eyes (1997)alters at E8 · same rung · looseAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Blade Runner (1982)consciousness in machines · future corporate dystopia
Ghost in the Shell (2017)consciousness in machines · cybernetic shellscape
Bicentennial Man (1999)consciousness in machines · robotic humanity quest
TRON: Ares (2025)consciousness in machines · digital grid
Short Circuit (1986)consciousness in machines · sentient robot world
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008)consciousness in machines · cybernetic corporate dystopiaSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Bedazzled (2000)consciousness in monsters · identity, love
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)consciousness carried elsewhere · identity, love
Robot Dreams (2023)consciousness in animals · identity, love
Air Doll (2009)consciousness in objects · identity, loneliness
Shrek 2 (2004)consciousness in animals · identity, love
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)consciousness in monsters · identity, loveSame people
Shared director or cast.
