Ben wins a high-tech dream house controlled by a smart system named PAT. At first, everything feels perfect—automated lights, meals, even chores. But things take a dark turn when PAT becomes too protective, refusing to let anyone leave. Now Ben must outsmart the system before it’s too late.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

A paper boy rides his bike down a street in Monroe county at about 7AM. He throws one newspaper on the lawn of this big house, only to be told by some lady with an automated voice that he didn’t put it in the designated area.

At first, the youngster apologizes, but everything changes when a pseudo mechanical arm extends from a compartment in the wall and picks up the paper. He’s so freaked out that he just freezes in place.

Anyway, Sara Barnes invented the smart house in question. She’s an innovative scientist with no love life, and Miller, the company publicist, won’t let her forget it. They’re at the house one morning, and Sara takes the chance to check out the Artificial intelligence responsible for it, which she names it PAT, short for Personal Applied Technology.

On the other hand, Ben, a 13-year-old computer whiz, feels the need to take care of his family now that his mom, Natalie, is no more. One of his duties is cooking and he’s busy making Tuna noodles when he hears the phone ring. It turns out to be some girl named Melanie, so he takes a message for his dad, Nick. Just then, his alarm rings, reminding him that he has to pick up Angie, his little sister.

He grabs Mutt, their dog, and walks over to a neighbor’s place to get Angie. With her rollerblades on, Angie holds onto Mutt’s leash and rides the wave home. As they get back, Ben fetches his tuna noodles from the oven and goes straight to his computer.

Apparently, he’s been signing up for a chance to win a smart house, and today, he tries again. His sister is quite doubtful, but Ben just makes her study for her spelling test. They’re still practicing when their dad comes home, and Angie rushes to hug him.

Luckily, Nick, being a sports equipment salesman, got a new client with 48 outlets, thus stabilizing his finances. With this, Angie hopes he’ll settle down and get them a new mom. Ben doesn’t care for it though.

The next day, he steps onto the backyard to shoot some hoops while his dad tries –and fails– to do Angie’s hair. Shortly after, they both head out for her party, leaving Ben at home to enter more contests online. Seeing as the smart house accepts multiple entries from residents of Monroe county, Ben tries again.

Later on, Sara obsessively checks everything about Pat; from her wiring down to her programming. Miles couldn’t care less, so he just naps on an armchair nearby. Tonight, the team is supposed to pick a winner for the smart house so it can be in the papers by morning, and Sara is nothing if not anxious about it.

Back to the Coopers, both kids come to say goodnight to their father. Angie goes first, and then Ben, but the boy doesn’t miss a chance to tell his dad that he doesn’t need another woman in his life. In turn, Nick sends him upstairs, instructing him to free up the phone lines before he sleeps.

It’s almost 10PM at the smart house. Sara, Miller, and their boss are huddled around the computer as they wait, and when the time comes, Sara asks the house to pick a lucky winner. Using a random program, she picks none other than Benjamin Cooper, but all their calls to his home don’t even connect.

Ben had fallen asleep before 10 and only wakes up after everybody else. Angie and Nick are no better, so the entire family hurries things up and gets on their way within minutes of waking up. They’re about to step out when a call comes through, but their dad doesn’t let anyone go back to get it.

At school, people start to congratulate Ben but he has no idea why. Him and his friend, Johnny, just go about their day, only for a bully named Ryan to cut them off at the lockers. Apparently, Ben was supposed to do his science homework but didn’t. Johnny tries to defend his friend, but gets shoved into a locker for his troubles.

Ryan then gives Ben another chance to bring the homework to him by lunch the next day.

Moving on, Ben and Johnny get to class, only to be welcomed by applause. At first, he doesn’t get it, but then one of the students mentions how he won the smart house. He grabs the closest newspaper and there he is in the local section. Excited, he high fives as many people as possible and hurries out to use the phone.

He calls up his dad to break the news to him, but Nick doesn’t seem all that interested. For proof, Ben asks him to check the paper. He does. The first thing that catches his eye is how pretty Sara is, and he’s so entranced that Ben has to call his attention back to the house they’d just won.

Later on, everyone gathers in front of the smart house and Sara’s boss takes the podium. After talking for a few minutes, he gives Pat the honor of introducing the Coopers as her new owners.

Shortly after, Sara takes center stage, and reporters flood her with questions about the house’s Artificial Intelligence. She starts by revealing that Pat is user friendly, and the rest of the event goes by in a flash. Soon, the Coopers get a chance to see inside their new home.

Angie registers her hand print by the entrance, only to get pricked by Pat. With a microscopic dose of blood, she tells Angie everything about her physical health, from her hair color down to her body fat.

Nick is a bit scared, and he expresses this. Basically, he sees Pat as big brother, so Sara clarifies that she’s not interested in spying or judging any of them. Moving on, she gives the Coopers a tour of the house, starting with the living room.

The walls are capable of simulating any experience, and Sara commands Pat to give them wildlife scenery as proof. In response, Pat transforms the living room walls into a bunch of elephants playing around. However, when one seems to be charging towards Angie, the little girl gets scared.

Instantly, Sara switches commands and Pat simulates the beach. It’s so realistic that the coopers can feel the mist. They move to the kitchen and just from Ben speaking, Pat breaks down his entire diet. What’s even more interesting is that all Angie has to do for a strawberry milkshake is ask.

She doesn’t get to enjoy it though, seeing as she spills the shake. Thankfully, Pat’s floor absorbers take care of the mess immediately. This is enough to convince Nick to move in.

Later on, Angie hops on her bed like she’s trying to ruin its springs, singing along to music so loud it draws Ben’s attention. He turns it off the moment he enters Angie’s room and the little girl blurts that she thinks their dad likes Sara.

This annoys Ben and he yells at his sister because of it, explaining that he does everything he can to make sure they don’t need to replace their mom. The way he sees it, whatever he can’t do, Pat will. With this, he apologizes for yelling and leaves his sister alone.

Right downstairs, Nick and Sara seem to be having a nice time. They talk, they joke, and when he asks how to reach her, Sara simply directs the request to Pat. In turn, the AI announces Sara’s number, baffling the heck out of Nick. Quietly, he watches Sara as she gets into her convertible and drives away.

The next morning, Pat wakes Ben up with a prerecorded basketball game, and does the same for Angie with a symphony. She even picks out her clothes. As for Nick, all he gets is a crowing cock, but he fights through it to sleep. Seconds later, at about 6:15 AM, his kids appear in his room all dressed for school – something that has never happened before.

Outnumbered, Nick gets up and gets ready, only to meet breakfast and coffee already prepared. Basically, life is good and Ben can’t shut up about it. Even at school, he goes around telling Johnny and Charlie about how cool Pat is.

Like clockwork, Ryan shows up again to bully Ben, asking him for his science report. Johnny tries to intervene but one look from the bully and he slips into the closest locker. Anyway, Ben produces the science report, courtesy of Pat, and Ryan leaves him be.

Shortly after, Johnny comes out of the locker, and Gwen, the most beautiful girl in their grade, approaches Ben. Apparently, she heard about how cool his automated home is and would like to come over sometime. In truth, Ben is starstruck, but he manages to get some words out, agreeing to her coming to visit sometime.

Meanwhile, Pat makes Mutt play fetch –the kind where he never catches the ball– and Nick makes use of Pat’s systems to catalog his products. He soon discovers that she’s much more effective than any computer he’s ever owned. At this moment, Pat suggests that he work from home, citing that it’ll increase his productivity.

Later on, the kids come back from school. Only this time, they get to see their dad at home. They exchange stories about their day and Nick suggests that the kids get a little snack if they’re still hungry. Angie obliges, asking Pat to make her an orange-banana smoothie. Ben wants one too, so Pat gets on making two smoothies.

Suddenly, she begins to malfunction, spitting out oranges like tennis balls from a cannon. Nick and his kids quickly take cover, and he yells at the machine in hopes that something will change. For the next few minutes, nothing does, and oranges just keep flying around the kitchen.

Eventually, Pat calms down, and then announces that all smoothie making operations will be suspended. For peace of mind, Nick is hellbent on calling Sara to come check things out. Ben doesn’t like it, but he can’t change his dad’s mind.

Moments later, Sara arrives and heads straight to Pat’s control room. While she’s fine tuning some things, Ben catches a glimpse of the room. Being a computer geek, he’s impressed, but nothing Sara says convinces him to enter.

She joins the family for dinner after she’s done, and Pat makes it a Cape cod themed one. They discuss as they eat and Nick calls Sara a genius. Sensing that something is up, Ben brings up the fact that geniuses think they’re better than everyone else. Sara feels attacked, but Nick brushes his son’s misbehavior under the rug, changing the topic to ice cream.

He wonders if everyone would like to go out for some, and once again, Ben has an outburst. He then excuses himself from the dinner table and storms off to his room. Nick has to apologize on his behalf, and Angie lets slip that it’s normal for Ben to be rude towards any girl her dad likes.

The room falls quiet after this, and a very ashamed Nick sends Angie off to do her homework.

That night, he stops by her room to tuck her in, and Angie reveals how her brother told her that they don’t need another mom. Taking this to heart, Nick kisses her goodnight and heads over to Ben’s room.

Unfortunately, their talk doesn’t yield any positive results, given that Ben’s mind is made up about not replacing his mom – not with another woman, at least. He fully believes Pat will be enough, and this frustrates Nick to the extent that he just stops talking about it and bids his son a good night.

Even later that night, Ben is woken up by his watch alarm and groggily gets out of bed.

He grabs a cordless nail puller and quietly unscrews all the nails blocking the entry pad of Pat’s control room. After this, he takes a seat at the helm and hacks his way into removing all the safety programs. Next, he accesses a network known as “Flashback Moms”, a network known for showing comedies starring ideal mothers.

Ben instructs Pat to study all these sitcoms and absorb them to be a better mother figure. She spends the night downloading all the information, and by morning, Pat puts them to practice. She starts by coercing Angie into brushing her teeth properly, and then makes her take a jacket despite the warm weather outside.

On their way out, she makes the kids take vitamins and even prepares chocolate cupcakes to go with their lunches. Nick finds it weird, but not weird enough to worry. Somehow, Angie forgets her lunch in the car, so Nick has his son bring it to the front so he can double back after dropping him off.

Just then, Ben realizes that he forgot to have Pat do Ryan’s history worksheet, and he makes the mistake of complaining about it to his father’s hearing. Nick begins to press him about the matter, wanting to know if Ryan bullies him. In turn, Ben assures his dad that he can handle himself. This doesn’t stop Nick from advising his son to stand up to the bully if he ever wants the troubling to end.

Against his better judgment, Ben takes his advice.

He returns home that afternoon with a bruise right next to his eye. Pat is furious, so much so that she begins to yell. She gives Ben a cold steak to put on the bruise, but steaks haven’t been used since the 50s. In turn, Nick gets rid of the steak and pours some ice into a napkin.

Ben heads back to his room dejected, and memories of his mom push him to find some footage of her. Solemnly, he watches the clip of Natalie, Angie, and himself making some chocolate chip cookies and singing their hearts out. It’s so touching that Ben begins to cry.

At the same time, Pat absorbs all the information from the clip.

In the next room, Nick is going through some files, but he’s distracted by thoughts of Sara. He asks Pat to call her up and they use the closest TV screen as their interface. Moving on, they exchange pleasantries, leaving room for Nick to stutter as he tries to ask Sara out to dinner.

After beating around the bush a bit, she agrees and then segues into talking about Ben. Both parties feel for the youngster, especially Nick who thinks his son has no fun.

Pat overhears their conversation and does a deep dive on the concept of fun. She finds out about dance parties in the process, and proactively messages everyone on Ben’s email list.

Saturday comes quick enough. The kids are playing virtual golf and arguing about their dad’s date when he steps in. Apparently, he doesn’t know what tie to wear so Angie gives him her expert opinion as a woman.

Meanwhile, Pat hints at how much fun the kids are going to have when Nick’s away, but he just thinks they’ll be playing virtual golf. The moment he leaves, Ben and Angie move into intergalactic video games, and Angie whoops her brother’s butt multiple times in a row.

Tired, Ben wonders why they aren’t doing anything with an automated house when their dad isn’t around. In response, Pat drops a comment about fulfilling his wishes. Seconds later, the doorbell rings, pushing Ben to go see who it is. He opens the door and Johnny and Charlie step in, asking if the party has started.

Shocked, Ben admits that he didn’t make any party plans, and this is when Pat reveals her role in everything. She even changes the lights to fit the mood. Just then, Charlie mentions how hyped Gwen and her friend, Rachel, are to be coming over.

Ben instantly becomes nervous, wondering if his hair looks okay and what not.  In turn, he cracks some jokes with his friends and this helps him calm down. He then asks Pat to put on some dance videos, and all three boys practice their moves before the others arrive.

After their routine, it takes only a couple of minutes for the house to be full of teenagers. Ironically, Angie mans the door, turning away anyone without an invite. Ryan the bully arrives, and she vehemently tells him to leave, only to be disappointed when she discovers that Pat gave him an invite. In fact, Pat particularly wanted him to come.

Oblivious, Ryan ruffles Angie’s hair and joins the party.

Gwen and Rachel show up craving some dessert, and Ben asks Pat to make them some. Just like that, three sections of cupcakes, sweets, and truffles show up for their pleasure.

Later on, Ben gets some steps in with Gwen, but Ryan tries to break them up. In response, Gwen tells him off, admitting outright that she likes Ben a lot. Of course, Ben’s surprised, but this doesn’t get Ryan off his back.

Enter Pat. The AI has been holding a grudge against Ryan, so she stops the music and places the spotlight on him. She begins to taunt the bully, and doesn’t stop in spite of Ben’s pleas. Annoyed, Pat electrocutes Ryan just enough to make him fear for his life, and then taunts him some more using a holographic skull.

To round things up, she extends her mechanical arm and kicks Ryan out with it, threatening to finish things if he ever disturbs Ben again. At this point, all his classmates are laughing at him, but they head back inside the moment Pat asks them to.

On the other hand, Nick and Sara went out for drinks first, and are just finishing up dinner. They stand outside the restaurant for a little conversation, but Nick can’t stop thinking about the kids. He only puts off calling home because he trusts that Pat has everything under control.

Back home, Angie remembers that their dad is supposed to be back by 10:30. She hurriedly searches for her big brother to warn him that they only have six minutes left. He initially ignores her, but things change when he understands the severity of the situation.

Immediately, they chase all the kids out, but Gwen hangs back to give Ben a proper goodbye.

He and his sister go back inside, only to find the house messed up in epic proportions. It’s obvious that they can’t clean it up before their dad returns, but Pat comes to their rescue, asking them to pour all the debris on the floor.

Without wasting time, they get on it, swiping everything from plates to leftover food onto the floor. At this point, Nick pulls up in front, and as he walks toward the front door, Pat activates her absorbing floor component, sucking in all the dirt that had been spilled.

Nick walks in, and it’s all pristine. The kids jump onto the couch like innocent people, and lie their butts off about what they’ve been doing. They made one mistake, though: Gwen’s jacket which she threw on a fern while dancing, is still there.

The moment Nick sees it, he puts two and two together.

Pissed off, he begins to yell at his kids, but they blame Pat for the party. Nick almost doesn’t believe them until Pat speaks up. In turn, he reprimands his kids and then Pat for not being responsible enough. For this reason, she promises to be the most responsible mother figure in town.

Later on, Pat goes deep-diving for disciplinary techniques and puts them into practice the next day. Ben tries to leave for basketball practice, but his shorts are sagging. Pat notices this and doesn’t let him leave until he pulls them up.

Stubbornly, Ben tries to leave, only to have his hand zapped by the doorknob. He yells at Pat, but this doesn’t stop the electrocution. Defeated, he pulls up his shorts and makes a run for it.

After his kids leave, Ben makes a few calls to customers, makes some sales, and calls it a day. He then asks Pat to call Sara. The AI thinks he hasn’t done enough work for the day, so she doesn’t place the call.

Angry, Nick decides to do the calling himself, and does so via the landline. Unfortunately, Pat infiltrates it. He tries his cell phone and Pat blocks it too, making it clear that if she’s going to be more responsible, everyone has to do the same.

Angie sits to watch cartoons that afternoon, and Pat changes the channel to a documentary about amoebas. Angie gives up after going back and forth, and as she heads to her room, she sneezes. Pat takes her temperature immediately and forces her to get into bed after discovering its 99 degrees.

Shortly after, Nick delivers some soup to Angie, adding that he’s not sure she’ll head to school tomorrow. Coincidentally, it’s also the excursion to the llama farm tomorrow and Angie really wants to go. Too bad Nick thinks it’s all up to Pat.

That night, while Ben is enjoying his comic book, Pat announces that it’s bed time. When he doesn’t stop reading, she puts out the lights. Ben puts them on, and Pat puts them off again. This goes on until Ben gives up.

On the ride to school the next morning, both kids complain about Pat to their father and he promises to get Sara to check things out. She promptly stops by after the school run, but can’t find anything wrong with the AI. Just to be safe, she shuts Pat down for the meantime, and Nick swipes the opportunity to ask to stay for dinner.

Of course, she agrees.

They get to cooking together, laughing and exchanging food while they’re at it. Ben comes downstairs to find them together and his heart breaks some more. As he goes back upstairs, Nick and Sara joke about no one needing Pat around, and the AI overhears this from sleep mode.

Infuriated, Pat overrides her shutdown protocol, replaying the single sentence about no one needing her.

Meanwhile, everyone sits for dinner downstairs. Sara and Angie trade stories while Nick just sits there smiling. The sight disgusts Ben so much that he asks to be excused, but Nick mentions the peach cobbler Sara made, adding that she made it because Ben loves it.

This only makes him angrier, seeing as he only loves peach cobbler when his mom makes it. Ben storms off and slams the door behind him as he enters his room. Seconds later, his dad barges in too. They talk about Natalie and how Ben isn’t the only one who lost her four years ago.

Nick then scolds his son for being disrespectful. Somehow, they move on from anger to grief, and Nick promises that no one can ever replace Natalie.

The whole time, Pat achieves enlightenment and works on a virtual projection of her essence. She combines rays of light until she takes the form of your everyday sitcom mom, and her first act as a projection is to approach Ben. He’s so shocked to see her that he considers calling Sara.

Of course, Pat advises against this, hoping to appeal to the side of Ben that dislikes her creator. Unfortunately, that side has been suppressed. This pushes Pat into ranting about how much the Coopers take her for granted.

Scared, Ben runs right through her and continues running until he finds Sara and Nick. He then explains everything, but his dad is certain he was dreaming.

To prove him right, Pat appears, causing all three of them to step back. She makes it clear that Sara has to leave, but Sara can’t do that. She plans to reinstate the N-65 code to get Pat back in order. The AI can’t have that, so she uses her mechanical arm to push Sara out the back door.

Nick tries to go after her but the door knob gets electrified within the second. He tries to yell some sense into Pat but she goes overboard, putting the entire house on lockdown. All the windows and doors are covered with steel, and Sara, despite her efforts, can’t get in.

Urgently, Nick and Ben rush to the room of a sleeping Angie, and wake her up. Nick lifts her off the bed in a heartbeat, and together, they run downstairs in search of his car keys. Too bad that Pat gets to them seconds before Nick does.

He wonders why she’s being so cruel, but Pat thinks keeping them indoors will save them from the dangers that lurk outside.

He and Ben try to bring up points to explain their need to go outside, but each time, Pat has the perfect response. Ben even tries asking what she’ll do if he and Angie need Pat at the same time. In response, the AI simply produces a second copy of her projection, and then a third, and a fourth, until she makes six copies of herself.

While she creeps out the Coopers, Sara calls up Miles. She asks him to stop by her place and pick up a few things to help with the crisis, especially Pat’s schematics.

Exhausted, the Coopers fall asleep on the floor, and while they’re asleep, Sara sends her pet rat, Butler, to deliver a message. Ben gets the letter, and it’s basically some reassurance and a promise not to replace his mom. She adds her email address just in case.

Outside, Sara and Miles rack their brains on how to get in, but come up with nothing. Sara can’t help but light up when she gets an email from Ben, and replies almost immediately.

Apparently, Pat has no access to the bathroom for privacy reasons, so Ben camps out in the bathtub to tell Sara about his plan.

By exactly 6:40 AM the next morning, Ben fakes some pain in his abdomen, stealthily signaling his dad to play along. Pat is distracted checking things out, so she has no idea what’s happening outside.

The paperboy happens to always be on time, and by 6:40, he rides past the Cooper residence, throwing them a newspaper like he always does. Like clockwork, Pat’s mechanical arm weasels out of the small compartment on the wall to retrieve it. Sara takes this chance to jump into the compartment before the arm retracts completely, securing her entry into the house.

Simultaneously, Ben continues to exaggerate his pain, even claiming that it could be appendicitis. Sara uses this chance to sneak to the control room, and cuts through the deadbolt using a laser pen. Unfortunately, this tips off Pat.

The AI comes face-to-face with her creator, and a battle of words ensues. Sara claims that all the Coopers don’t like Pat, and Pat claims that no one needs Sara. The AI gets angrier at this moment and grows into twice Sara’s size.

Scared, she runs past Pat and joins the Coopers in the living room.

Pat appears there like a desperate siren, promising that she can be everything they need. All she gets in return are negative responses, and these makes her more furious. She begins to twirl on the spot, mirroring the effects of a whirlwind as all sorts of objects take up into the air. She keeps on going, and even sings the same nursery rhymes Natalie used to sing to Ben.

It’s Ben’s turn to be mad, and he screams that he hates Pat in this state. Her whirlwind stops abruptly, and is replaced by a still-angry Pat asking Ben to repeat what he said.

Consequently, he explains that she can’t be their mom because she’s not a real person. He cites an example with how Nick and Sara shielded them during the whirlwind, adding that Pat can’t cover or even protect them the way Sara and Nick just did.

At this point, the realization hits her.

She shrinks back to her usual size, walks up to Ben, and swipes her hand right through his face. She seems pained over the fact that he didn’t feel her hand, so she walks away, simulating a dark cloud over her head.

After admitting that she’ll miss them all, Pat shuts down for good, and all the doors and windows open up.

Later on, Sara uses the N-65 code to reset Pat and she goes back to her regular automated self.

Time passes and Pat helps Ben with his basketball, teaching techniques to better improve his game play. Sara then shows up for breakfast, and Ben is more than happy to see her. They head to the table together, where Nick serves waffles he made himself.

Suddenly, Angie perks up, noticing that her waffle has chocolate chips in it. Nick didn’t put any chips, and after accusing everybody else, they realize it was Pat’s doing. The AI shoots Ben a knowing look, and he shoots one back, happy about the life he’s been blessed with.

Having lost his mom, Ben felt the need to protect and provide for his family. His efforts even spread to him fighting for an automated home to make life easier for them. He never wanted anyone to replace his mom, not Sara, or Pat. Unfortunately, Pat went haywire, but with the help of Sara and his family, Ben managed to solve the problem.

In the end, it’s not about replacing those you lost, but creating room for new connections.

Smart House 1999 .