Inside the Mind of Father Haase: Technology, Memory, and Meaning in Holy B3 – Der Chip – A Critique Review

Holy B3 – Der Chip is a short film written by Jeremiah Unom and directed by Claudio D’Attis, which continues the Holy B3 saga – an experimental series that explores the connection and interaction between religion and technology (especially AI) in the modern world. This time focusing on how a piece of technology can affect or help the human mind, the series continues to be a challenging, but fascinating, watching experience.
As always, there’s a lot to say about these! While I’ve previously explored what this series seems to be trying to do when facing the idea of God, faith, and religion vs technology and AI, and how they can exist together in a world searching for salvation, on this occasion, the film seemed to explore a more humanistic side, particularly in its first half. As noted, this new entry focuses more specifically on what a chip can do to the human brain – a subject that, as we know, is actually being discussed nowadays. In the film, the chip seems to send our recurring protagonist, Father Haase, into a series of memories and visions. The memories show the beauty of nature and the world, and we get to experience a lovely ride through Italy on a bike (courtesy of the women who put the chip in Father Haase’s head), and it’s quite an enjoyable experience. However, soon enough, the chip seems to also warn of upcoming fatalities. Visions of disasters and a destroyed world come in what feels like a psychedelic nightmare – and, later on, of robots replacing human beings and even religious figures.
So, as usual, the series gives us a lot to think about! In a way, though, this entry gives us a more pleasing ending of togetherness and what seems to be a message of embracing love and nature as a way to prevent disaster. But the question remains… Can AI technology and faith and religion coexist? If AI replaces God, will robots replace humans and see AI as their religious figure? Can technology give humans the solution to peace and happiness, while warning them about dangers? Can a chip in our brains give us comfort and awareness?
The questions remain unsolved, and we can’t even guarantee that these are the right questions! But, as any good experimental piece, this film is meant to have the viewer confronting their own ideas and beliefs about both faith and technology, and the answers are more likely to come as a result of their own convictions, for which, again, we recommend watching these films with someone else, as that will generate some interesting dialogue.
In any case, we hope to continue seeing more entries to this fascinating series, and we recommend people watch them!