In Finch, the dying inventor gives his humanoid robot the name Jeff.
Jeff is built by Finch Weinberg, an engineer surviving in a devastated future where a massive solar flare has made much of Earth dangerous. Finch’s main concern is Goodyear, his dog, so he creates Jeff to care for the animal after Finch can no longer do so. The robot begins with limited knowledge and gradually develops physical skills, language, and an understanding of responsibility.
Tom Hanks plays Finch, while Caleb Landry Jones provides Jeff’s voice and performance. The film was directed by Miguel Sapochnik and released on Apple TV+ in 2021. Its story combines post-apocalyptic survival with a creator-and-machine relationship.
Jeff is not the name of the dog: the dog is Goodyear. The robot is also distinct from Finch’s earlier machine, Dewey, a smaller quadrupedal security robot. The relationship among Finch, Jeff, and Goodyear drives the film’s emotional and practical conflicts.