What is the difference between knowing and understanding? From a human point of view – if we know what a person wants from us, doesn’t it stand to reason that we can understand what they want, and even how they want it?

What about from an inhuman point of view?

Maria Schrader’s story is that of Alma (Maren Eggert) – a cuneiform expert at Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. She has agreed to report on the product of a company offering robotic companionship tailored to the individual, in exchange for funding for her research.

Alma is introduced to Tom (Dan Stevens) – a robotic man who could pass any Turin test with flying colours, and also wow any potential first date with his attentiveness, listening skills, good looks, and charm.

Alma is resolved to keep their interaction strictly scientific for the sake of research. Tom wants to make her happy by offering as much or as little romantic or platonic companionship Alma needs, because…well…he’s a robot.

There has been a lot said and written over the years about just what separates humans from machines – which reactions, which emotions. Into these waters wades I’M YOUR MAN in search of something new to say.

What Maria Schrader has to say is far less about what humans are, and more about what they are not. Humans – to hear Schrader tell it – are illogical, indecisive, imperfect, impulsive, messy, selfish, and scared.

Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? It’s not. These traits, in the eyes of I’M YOUR MAN, are the virtues of being human.

In scene after scene, we watch as Tom tries again and again to be “the perfect man”. Sometimes his attempts even require him to refrain from making attempts, and he tries that too (against his better judgment). Since the film is so wonderfully ensconced in Alma’s point of view, every time we see these gestures and attempts, we come away with the same feeling: “I don’t want this”. Whether it’s a clean office or a lavish brunch or even a smiling expression at a moment of frustration. The gestures are wonderful and thoughtful, but almost always “wrong”.

Why? Who wouldn’t want a partner to walk in the door just as they are about ready to start their day with hot coffee and fresh donuts? We don’t – because such timing and selflessness feel inhuman. Therefore, we reject it – perfect as it seems on paper.

And yet, the crux of I’M YOU MAN isn’t a journey to see a woman fall for a machine, but instead a journey where a woman comes to a better understanding of herself and humanity on the whole. The relationship of Tom and Alma is not linear akin to an arranged marriage where two people “learn to love each other”.

Lovely as that would be, it’s that second idea that Alma is fixated on and explores for our benefit. She questions so many things anew thanks to Tom, and through her various up’s and down’s with him, understands more and more about humanity when she has to take him through a heart’s desire, or sometimes see the alternative.

On paper, I’M YOUR MAN shouldn’t work. It’s a concept we’ve seen before and a story we will see again. And yet, there’s something about the charming and vulnerable way that all involved with this film tell the story that makes it all feel so honest, warm, fresh, and – yes – human.