2040 (2009)

The film 2040 creates a dystopian future where the threat of deadly sexually transmitted infections leads people to rely on masturbation to pornography as their chief sexual outlet. The pornography they use features sex between humans and human-like sex robots called anabots. The narrative focuses on a male porn star who falls in love with an advanced model anabot that develops self-awareness and human emotions. The article considers whether 2040 is correct in predicting a future filled with more sophisticated sex robots or whether advances in virtual reality will make sex robots obsolete. Scenes that dramatize sex between anabots and humans allow the film to comment on the role that technology, in the forms of both pharmaceuticals and robotics, plays in the satisfaction and creation of sexual desire as well as the nature of objectification.