Genuinely hilarious concept. It records a performance Ratthi wanted to see but couldn't get to that evening, edits together a great single video using all the different angles from its multiple drones, and sends the file over. Two days later, it runs into Ratthi and alludes to the play, indicating it wouldn't mind discussing it.
But, while Ratthi thanks it profusely for getting him a copy, he's at a loss for words on how to discuss the play itself.
To say the recording was "unwatchable" is a stretch, but there were... so many scenes where he couldn't see anyone's facial expressions bc SecUnit had decided that the most important thing happening on the stage at the moment were physiological cues and body language — a shot of a perspiring temple, nervous foot scraping, fingers twitching minutely in anger though draped seemingly in a relaxed posture next to the actor's thighs — details impossible for a human audience to appreciate from their seats, but clearly to SecUnit revealed motives, suggesting intentions, foreshadowing later developments.
In several places, the audio has clearly been choked, with a superimposed sound to indicate tension, as SecUnit zoomed in on these small details, indicating the physiological symptoms were more important to the story than what was being said out loud. Whole swaths of dialogue and monologue are lost to this treatment. There's a couple scenes where furniture is being dragged or pushed by actors for dramatic emphasis of their monologue except the camera is fixated exclusively on the furniture, not the actor — once, very memorably, zooming in impossibly close on the grain of a wood chair where it had long ago splintered slightly around the worn and discolored screw that had been driven into it during assembly.
There's even superimposed biometric data in some pivotal moments, showing the pulse rates, hydration levels, and body temperature of all participants on the stage. The reason this data was included in those particular scenes is not something that can be guessed from context. Not by a human, at least.
All in all, it's fascinating insight into the head of a construct, or... this particular construct, at least. And Ratthi recognizes that, values that, and has already scheduled a movie night with Bharadwaj for a rewatch. He's feeling pretty giddy about seeing the look on her face when she realizes what she's looking at. In fact, as a piece of art in and of itself, the film is making incredible innovations in storytelling. But the original play itself... Ratthi could barely follow what the hell was happening. What? Who? Why?
"Loved it, SecUnit. Love me some drama. I hope I get to go to the next one with you in person."
When Ratthi finally sees the same performance two months later (brought back to the stage for a couple nights by popular demand), he's straight up shocked by how, despite the ~similar outcome of the plot, the mood and tone are wildly different. SecUnit's arthouse, avant garde film had been a whole different genre from the play it had recorded, as well as several magnitudes more suspenseful and intricate in interplay.
On his way out, Ratthi runs into Bharadwaj, who he hadn't known was also in the audience that night. They just... stare... at each other. Both can read the thought clearly in the other's eyes:
SecUnit.... made that.... out of this?
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