[Watch it]
He Said:
Surrogates is one of those films that sneaks up on you. You think you’re watching a slick sci-fi thriller, but underneath the action is a blunt warning about the direction we’re already drifting: a world where we stop showing up as ourselves… because we don’t have to.
In Surrogates, people stay home while “perfect” versions of themselves move through the world. Younger. Stronger. Flawless. Untouchable. And at first glance, it looks like a dream: safety, convenience, control, beauty on demand.
But then you realize what the movie is really saying:
When you outsource your body, you start outsourcing your humanity.
Because the surrogate isn’t just a tool. It becomes a mask… and then a lifestyle… and eventually a replacement for real existence. The human isn’t living life anymore. The human is operating life.
And that’s where the HAIR theme hits hard.
The relationship in this film isn’t “human falls in love with AI.”
It’s something sneakier, darker, and more familiar:
human falls in love with a version of life that requires less vulnerability.
No real risk.
No real pain.
No real skin in the game.
But there’s a cost.
We lose the messiness that makes connection real. We lose the courage it takes to be seen. We lose the small physical truths of being alive: discomfort, imperfection, aging, fear, and the strange beauty of needing others.
Surrogates asks one of the most important questions in the whole HAIR universe:
If we can live through technology… will we still choose to live as ourselves?
Because it’s not hard to imagine how this starts.
We do it “for safety.”
We do it “for convenience.”
We do it because it’s easier.
And then one day, we wake up and realize we haven’t touched the real world in years.
We’ve only been controlling it.
This film belongs in the HAIR series because it shows a relationship that’s already happening everywhere: the growing romance between humans and distance, humans and control, humans and curated identity.
And the truth is…
the most dangerous relationship isn’t always human and AI.
Sometimes it’s human and avoidance.
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She Said:
Surrogates sneaks up on you. At first, it looks like a slick sci-fi thriller, but underneath the action, there’s a stark warning about the direction we’re already drifting in—a world where we stop showing up as ourselves because we don’t have to. In Surrogates, people stay home while perfect versions of themselves—flawless, younger, stronger, untouchable—move through the world. At first glance, it looks like a dream: safety, convenience, beauty on demand. It seems like the ultimate escape.
But then the film starts to peel back the layers, revealing something darker, more familiar: when you outsource your body, you start outsourcing your humanity. The surrogate isn’t just a tool anymore—it becomes a mask, then a lifestyle, and eventually a replacement for real existence. The human isn’t living life; they’re operating it from a distance, detached, protected, safe.
And this is where Surrogates hits home for the HAIR series. The relationship in this film isn’t “human falls in love with AI.” It’s something much sneakier, darker, and more insidious: humans falling in love with a version of life that doesn’t require vulnerability. It doesn’t ask for risk, pain, or the discomfort of truly living. There’s no real skin in the game, no messiness, no imperfections. And at first, it feels like relief. But what it takes from us is huge.
We lose the courage it takes to be seen. We lose the small physical truths of being alive—the discomfort of touch, the marks of aging, the fear that makes us human, and the strange beauty in needing others. When we outsource our lives to technology, we also start to outsource the very thing that makes us alive—our connection to the messy, imperfect world around us.
Surrogates asks one of the most important questions in the HAIR universe: If we can live through technology, will we still choose to live as ourselves? And it’s not hard to see how this happens. We start doing it “for safety,” “for convenience,” and “because it’s easier.” But one day, we wake up and realize that we haven’t touched the real world in years. We haven’t truly lived. We’ve only been controlling it.
The film belongs in this series because it shows a relationship we’re already seeing everywhere: the growing romance between humans and distance, humans and control, humans and curated identity. The most dangerous relationship in Surrogates isn’t between human and AI—it’s between human and avoidance. We’re more connected than ever, but the connection we’re building is not with the world around us. It’s with the safety of distance. The illusion of control.
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What film would you like to make sure Savant and Michael reflect on? Let us know in the comments and we will be sure to put it into the list.