Photo Credit: Focus Features
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows star Noomi Rapace’s new science fiction thriller has debuted to grim critical reviews following its theatrical release on August 21, 2026.
According to the initial scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the film Hot Spot opened to a dismal 10% Tomatometer rating based on early critic reviews. Reviews have largely criticized the narrative execution. Things are not looking too good for the movie.
Per Joseph Robinson of Fish Jelly Films, “For all of its visual flair and intriguing ideas, Hot Spot feels like a film that has bitten off more than its narrative can convincingly chew.”
Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies stated, “It seems impossible that this material could be dull, but its aimless execution makes that an inescapable reality.”
The New York Times’ Natalia Winkelman wrote, “Hot Spot, with its arcane rules and stilted exposition, is closer to a video game or a lucid dream than a worthy science-fiction entry.”
Matt Donato from Daily Dead opined, “Smoczyńska’s approach may be avant-garde, but her fears for humanity burn bright at the script’s core … She’s doing her best “Quentin Dupieux’s take on a Blade Runner” impression.”
What is Hot Spot all about?
The summary of the movie, per Rotten Tomatoes, reads, “In Hot Spot, set in a near-future society ruled by sentient AI, a private eye investigates a murder case only to discover a rebel group capable of undermining the digital overlord. As the detective’s identity slowly unravels, his world enters a state of hypnotic meltdown.”
The story revolves around an all-powerful artificial intelligence entity named The Head, which maintains psychological control over the inhabitants of a dystopian enclave known as Nowhere in the Future.
Tensions escalate when a group of refugees refuses to plug into the A.I. system and adopts a rebellious posture. As the murder complicates things further, Hot Spot essentially taps into the concept of artificial intelligence taking over the human world.
Hot Spot is directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska from a screenplay written by Robert Bolesto. Alongside Rapace, the film features Andrzej Konopka in the leading detective role, alongside Reika Kirishima and Filippa Kaye.
This article was originally reported by Debmallya Chakraborty on ComingSoon.
