With its exquisite visual composition and delicate musical score, Phie Ambo’s Mechanical Love gently places its finger on the pulse of 21st-century emotional life. It develops a well-researched exploration of the contemporary state of therapeutic robotics into a thoughtful and humorous interrogation of postmodern philosophies of love and human identity. A commentary on the international differences in social interactions both in an institutional as well as a private context emerges from its dual narrative. We witness Hiroshi Ishiguro’s experimental duplication of himself and his family members (geminoids) and the resulting discussions of the “uncanny” absence of “Sonzai-kan” (aura). At the same time, we see Paro, the mechanical baby seal, being introduced as love object into retirement homes in Germany, Italy, Denmark, and Japan, with the whimsical character of Frau Körner providing particularly poignant insights on the concept of love as a basic need and a culturally determined illusion.  AM