Movie Review: C.O.G.

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: September 5th, 2026 / 12:57 AM

C.O.G. movie poster } ©2026 Brainstorm Media

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Piper Curda, Noel Fisher, Josh Zuckerman, Natasha Behnam, Lucius Baybak. Ritesh Rajan, Kyle S. More
Writer: Angie Simms
Director: Tommy Savas
Distributor: Brainstorm Media
Release Date: September 4, 2026 (theatrical), September 25, 2026 (VOD)

C.O.G. (original title COGNAITIVE) is about an A.I. that goes rogue in the final stages of its (her?) development.

“Haven’t you seen TERMINATOR?” a programmer snaps when asked what’s the worst that could happen. Obviously, the irony is that the programmer certainly saw it and went ahead with her job anyway – right until it reaches crisis point.

Written by Angie Simms (who also supplies much of the A.I.’s voice) and directed by Tommy Savas, C.O.G. is one of those techno-horror thrillers that make smart use of a low budget and limited spaces, even though it has a few wait-a-minute bits like the one listed above.

In the opening moments of C.O.G., we see a nervous programmer, Daryl (Kyle S. More) private-messaging with an unidentified user. If you guess this user is the A.I., congratulations. It asks Daryl to do “one more thing.” Daryl refuses – and is strangled.

We then meet Ethan (a splendidly smug Noel Fisher), head of the scrappy little start-up that invented this new A.I., dubbed “CognAItive,” as he rehearses a speech. He talks about how A.I. used to be like an employee, needing teaching and supervision. CognAItive, he says, is more like a perfect partner.

Ethan is willing to give credit where it’s due, explaining that programmer Kaya Cole (Piper Curda) is actually responsible for the creation of CognAItive.

We see Kaya running late, using A.I. to wake her up, tell her what the weather is, what she ought to wear, how she should brush her teeth. When she gets to the office, Ethan tells her she has to do a Zoom interview with WIRED.

While Kaya dances around some aspects of CognAItive, she is sincere when she tells the journalist that she believes A.I. is more trustworthy than human beings. Kaya also believes that, while CognAItive has autonomy, there are safety measures to keep it from actually having a mind of its own.

Ethan dismays Kaya and the rest of the team by insisting that CognAItive will launch tomorrow, rather than in two weeks as scheduled. This means everybody has to pull an all-nighter, but that turns out to be the least of their problems.

There are a number of kills, at least one reasonably shocking and another nicely creepy. There is also decent plot logic for what’s happening.

Just as important, the filmmakers have a good sense of pacing. We get just enough time to get to know the rest of the gang, including timid Wes (Josh Zuckerman), sensible KJ (Ritesh Rajan), goof-off Jude (Lucius Baybak) and hard-to-flap Liza (Natasha Behnam), before things get crazy and stay that way.

There are breather moments, lots of plausible action – nobody’s a superhero, so the fights look like what would happen in life-or-death conflicts between the untrained – and some intriguing interactions between CognAItive and most of the human characters.

C.O.G. brings up arguments about what A.I. can do for us versus what it can do to us. These are worth contemplation. However, C.O.G.’s main value is as a punchy, entertaining piece that knows the worth of speed and detail.

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