Noomi Rapace’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Hot Spot’ Is Like ‘Dune’s Deranged Cousin
Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczynska has created a visually surreal science-fiction mystery featuring actor Noomi Rapace as a protagonist who refuses to connect to a society controlled by an all-powerful AI entity. The film incorporates fantastical elements including cyber witches and biotechnological horrors alongside retrofuturist aesthetics, blending narrative ambiguity with deliberate artistic choices that prioritise immersive world-building over straightforward storytelling.
Smoczynska developed the project with writer Robert Bolesto from an initial concept about a witch in a refugee camp, eventually layering contemporary anxieties about artificial intelligence, climate collapse, and information warfare into a metaphorical framework. The director filmed across Greece, deliberately selecting locations including an abandoned airport and ancient ruins to evoke a civilisation in decline, rejecting linear narrative clarity in favour of exploring cinema as a visual language that juxtaposes societal fears with emotional intimacy.
- Agnieszka Smoczynska's surrealist sci-fi film stars Noomi Rapace as a rebel resisting an omnipotent AI system in a dystopian landscape
- The film prioritises visual poetry and thematic exploration over conventional plot progression, examining modern fears around technology and climate
- Combining Greece's ancient ruins with cyberpunk aesthetics, the director crafted a non-linear narrative about AI dependence, fake news, and protecting loved ones
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Smoczynska's film centres on an all-powerful artificial intelligence that governs society, with Rapace playing a character who resists joining it. Alongside this AI-versus-individual premise, the story mixes in witches, body-horror style biotechnology and a retro-futuristic look, so it draws on several science-fiction and fantasy traditions rather than sticking to one.
The project began years ago as a simpler idea about a witch living in a refugee camp, which Smoczynska and co-writer Robert Bolesto gradually expanded to touch on present-day worries such as AI, environmental breakdown and disinformation. It was shot on location in Greece, using sites like a disused airport and ancient ruins to suggest a civilisation past its peak.
The film is notable for favouring atmosphere and visual storytelling over a conventional, easy-to-follow plot, which is why comparisons are being drawn to big-budget science-fiction epics like Dune while also being described as stranger and more experimental.