Ex Machina
Ex Machinais memorable and downright challenging, full of sharp performances that blur the lines between humanity and programming.
In the near - future , untried electronic computer coder Caleb Smith ( Domhnall Gleeson ) , working for the creation ’s most powerful technical school company , is selected to assist in an unorthodox experiment . Caleb travels far from his authority line to an isolated homestead , and inquiry facility , of the company ’s reclusive chief executive officer , Nathan Bateman ( Oscar Isaac ) for a weeklong sojourn . However , when the eager employee really meets his employer , Caleb finds that , in his isolation , Nathan has become mad and obsessional - seldom project without an alcohol-dependent drink in deal .
Nevertheless , when Nathan reveal to Caleb the function of his visit , the coder dismisses his initial discomfort ( and fear ) in favor of jumping head - long into scientific find . Hidden away in his compound , Nathan has been sour on an advanced stilted intelligence named Ava ( Alicia Vikander ) - and has brought Caleb in as a adviser , hoping the computer programmer can successfully parcel out a Turing Test : intended to ascertain if an A.I. ’s personality and self - consciousness is adequate or big than a build - and - blood human ( meaning the A.I. ’s " contrived " intelligence activity is imperceptible to " normal " people ) .
Ex Machinamarks the directorial debut of28 Dayswriter Alex Garland - a name that should be conversant to viewers of other fan - favorite genre stories : SunshineandDredd , especially . While Garland did n’t spend much clock time in a director ’s chair prior to his work onEx Machina(depending on how much you think about the upheavals onDredd ’s solidifying ) , the acclaimed novelist and screenwriter has collaborated closely with several high - profile filmmakers ( including Danny Boyle ) . As a result , while certain moviegoers might be sceptical that a freshman filmmaker could bear a thought - provoking , visually arresting , and outright haunting sci - fi story , Ex Machinais definitive test copy of Garland ’s talent on the Sir Frederick Handley Page and behind the photographic camera .
Indicated by Garland ’s pick of style ( a romp on the latin phase : deus ex machina , " a god from the machine " ) , audiences should proceed with decipherable expectations : Ex Machinais not a mainstream sci - fi thriller , it ’s a ruminative character study that juxtaposes intelligence service and the " human " mortal - in a stream of dense philosophical and technical rumination . Garland does n’t ill-treat his TV audience with technobabble but he does expect them to keep up . Beyond three engaging leads and brainy sci - fi storytelling , Ex Machinais a movie about question and debate - both layered into the subtext and full - on portrayed in scenes of audience as well as , at times , interrogation .
freshly off a well - received carrying into action inAbout Time(and gear up for a lead function inStar war : The Force Awakens ) , Domhnall Gleeson is an absorbing and empathic stand - in for the moving-picture show ’s audience - a broad - eyed optimist promptly capture by Nathan ’s conception . In most scenes , Gleeson is playing the straight man , a sound board to educate and challenge viewing audience but , even though the actor offers a quality performance , he ’s often overshadowed by his conscientious objector - stars - specially Isaac . Even in a film star a sentient contrived intelligence , Isaac ’s Nathan is a fascinating and entertaining addition - a man that embodies the conflicted nature of humankind : a creative savant , cripple by his own intellect , exiled in a prison house ( both genial and physical ) of his own innovation .
In any other picture , Isaac ’s tortured genius would slip the show but , unsurprisingly , Ex Machina ’s Ava ( played by Alicia Vikander ) succeeds as the main attraction - and the Crux Australis on which the film comes full R-2 . Vikander ’s layered performance required a subtle trace ( she is , after all , a person dally an artificial intelligence that is near - indistinguishable from a material human ) - to ensure that Ava is neither too human or too robotic . It is Vikander ’s vulnerable portrayal that keeps Ava locked in a catch center ground - squeeze Caleb , Nathan , andEx Machina ’s audience to confront a mountain range of complicated human emotion : admiration , dubiousness , and reverence , along with some flat - out challenging questions that our earth ( outside of the dramatic art ) will unavoidably have to inquire in the not - too - upstage future .
That allege , after a courageous and tempting carrying into action from Vikander , android Ava was convey to life through an imaginative premix of bouncy - action and CGI ( via the combined effort of Millennium FX , Double Negative , and Milk VFX ) , as well as beautiful cinematography from Rob Hardy . It ’s fairish to say that in addition to being one of the most thought - provoking science fiction films of late , Ex Machinais also one of the most visually arresting .
Ex Machinais memorable and downright challenging , full of precipitous performances that blur the argumentation between man and programming - as well as twists that playfully defy the film ’s interview . It ’s an graphics - house moving-picture show , one that may move too obtuse or expend too much time in elusive reflection for casual viewer , but that does n’t mean Garland has missedhismark . Tracing a thrifty line between good and malevolent , genius and insanity , as well as soul and soullessness , Ex Machinais a captivating viewing - one that will leave motion-picture fan with mountain to contemplate .
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Ex Machinaruns 108 minutes and is Rated R for graphic nudity , language , sexual citation and some violence . Now flirt in theaters .
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For an in - depth discussion of the film by the Screen Rant editors check back soon for ourEx Machinaepisode of theSR Underground podcast .
What happens to me if I fail your test?
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Young data processor programmer Caleb is select to participate in a groundbreaking experimentation by evaluating the human timbre in a new and improved distaff artificial intelligence agency . But in the grand , marooned mansion of the man who created this applied science , all may not be as it seems .
What happens to me if I fail your test?
