In today’s technological climate there is a social rift emerging between religious faiths in terms of their position regarding science and technology. Where there are many who use their faith to oppose science and technological innovation, there are others who helped bring about a new era of techno-based religion instead. Here on Serious Wonder, we even had an opportunity to interview Data 99 – the mysterious founder of a new cyborg religion known as Nebtrion.

Which then raises the question: what might religion look like in the future? If the future is truly going to be the playground of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), then where might religion take part? Most importantly, will it have a positive impact or a negative one?

One short film, titled Battery Life, written and directed by Justin Nixon, presents one possible outcome. In a world where all that exists is robotic life, a certain religious faith has embedded itself into the psyche of its populace. Who lives and who dies (or rather, whose battery life remains charged and whose doesn’t) can only be answered by their supposed god. A reality that becomes problematic when a robot mother and father plea to their god to save their dying son, only to be shunned and ignored in return.

If you love sci-fi short films as much as I do, then I’d highly recommend watching Battery Life. Its visual cinematography and animation are quite unique and the storyline binge-worthy. Hopefully, we’ll see more work by Justin Nixon in the near future.