Monitored by the electronic implants in their necks, the robot sentries are able to track the movement of humans in order to control them.

In a rural town in England, a teen going by the name of Sean Flynn (Callan McAuliffe) is seeking his father, who went missing not long after the robots invaded, sending out hand-drawn lost posters hidden in tennis balls and fruit.

The group discovers that Nathan's implant has been turned off by the electrical shock, and then perform the same procedure on each other to stay outside without being tracked down.

The group enters a local museum before Sean suggests that they go look for his father, Danny (Steven Mackintosh) at the school, where the files on all the people are kept.

They discover that Danny is still alive, having been moved to a hotel, but are then caught and brought to a room with a deep scanner after their implants reboot.

When they refuse to answer, Sean's uncle is brought in, and receives a black implant, before being subjected to a deep scan, a painful process that searches through all of a person's mental faculties before rendering them unable to eat, causing them to die in a few days.

In exchange, the boys meet Swanny, who has had his implant removed by a watchmaker, and also tells the children to go to a Stone Circle.

The children then track down Kate, before heading to the Stone Circle, deciphering a message written in graffiti to find the location of a human camp, an old tin mine.

The film began principal photography in Wales, the Isle of Man[6] and Northern Ireland,[7] with shooting to include Carrickfergus Castle.

[11] Television drama producer Tony Wood described Robot Overlords as "a great British sci-fi brand in the tradition of classics such as 'Quatermass' and 'Doctor Who' — packed with special effects and rebellious excitement.

"[13] The Guardian compared the film to another well known British science fiction franchise, saying it "plays like a slightly-more sweary episode of Doctor Who.

"[14][15] The Telegraph branded it quintessentially British, with its many "plucky" characters, but found the plot to be thin and the robot overlords clumsy and harking back to earlier sci-fi movies: like a "rusty Dr Who episode" with Dalek invasions of Bedfordshire quarries.

[22] London based production company Buccaneer Media signed an agreement to create a television series that will be set in a "parallel universe" to the film.