Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man (2021)

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Stream it free on Kanopy.

There’s a wonderful scene in this dryly charming German comedy in which Tom (Dan Stevens) orders a coffee in a sleek spot, then makes small talk with a stranger. That is pretty much all that happens, but the moment is entrancing: Tom, you see, is an android. He is precise and accommodating in his interactions with people, but also a little off.

Tom has been assigned to spend three weeks with Alma (Maren Eggert) in a live-in test of his abilities as a human, after which she will write an evaluation. “My algorithm is designed to make you happy,” he tells her. But is perfection such a great idea? Not necessarily for Alma, who, frustrated by Tom’s attentions, rails “Can’t you stop doing everything right?”

The director Maria Schrader (also behind the excellent “Unorthodox” series, as well as an actress in the three “Deutschland” seasons) spins a delicate story around what we expect of our lovers and, more generally, life; in the process she deftly subverts the codes of romantic comedy.

And she could not have done it without the genuine chemistry between Stevens (speaking excellent German) and Eggert — the former confirming, after “Legion” and “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” that he has become one of our most daring actors. If you find yourself rooting for them as a couple, uncomfortable questions can’t help but arise.