Ex Machina
Directed by: Alex Garland
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno
Drama/Sci-Fi - 108 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 Apr 2015
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno
Drama/Sci-Fi - 108 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 Apr 2015
Films about the creation of and interaction with artificial intelligence are arriving in theaters with unexpected frequency, both for the benefit of and detriment to quality cinema. For every brilliant movie exploring the concept of sentient computers and robots such as Her (2013), there is an equally mundane Transcendence (2014) or even nauseating entry, such as Chappie (2015). Lucky for us, the most recent iteration, Ex Machina, fits squarely into the fascinating and mind-blowing end of the spectrum. An unusually small cast, a maze-like claustrophobic setting, a virtuoso performance, and written by the man behind The Beach and 28 Days Later…, Ex Machina is spellbinding. It is a sci-fi movie I would challenge any sci-fi genre skeptic to shrug off; they won’t be able to.
Ex Machina is science fiction on its book cover. The idea of a mad scientist running around creating aware and feeling machines is commonplace in 2015, yet writer/director Alex Garland leads us in an unexpected direction. Rather than employ the set up to launch a standard action/thriller, a familiar genre when A.I. is involved, Ex Machina is more pot boiling mystery. Questions surrounding allegiances and motivations eclipse the typical narrative accompanying any discussion of A.I., namely ethics, hierarchy, and humanity.
Ex Machina is science fiction on its book cover. The idea of a mad scientist running around creating aware and feeling machines is commonplace in 2015, yet writer/director Alex Garland leads us in an unexpected direction. Rather than employ the set up to launch a standard action/thriller, a familiar genre when A.I. is involved, Ex Machina is more pot boiling mystery. Questions surrounding allegiances and motivations eclipse the typical narrative accompanying any discussion of A.I., namely ethics, hierarchy, and humanity.
Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson, 2014’s Unbroken) is a mid-level twenty-something programmer in a Google-like search engine company. Upon winning a contest, a helicopter whisks Caleb away to middle of nowhere Alaska to spend a week with the company’s genius and reclusive founder, Nathan (Oscar Isaac, 2014’s A Most Violent Year). Nathan built a robot; a living, thinking, aware of itself robot, and Caleb’s job is to determine through a series of conversations whether or not he can tell if the robot could pass for human or not. Simple enough.
Not even close. This is merely the quick and dirty synopsis and any further plot discussion will only harm your enjoyment. Nathan intentionally isolates himself in a one-of-kind home/research lab to focus on his inventions. This is Architectural Digest kind of living. Most of the action occurs underground in a series of hallways and rooms separated by glass. It is all very tight, compact, and unsettling. During brief respites upstairs, the house aims for a ‘one with nature’ atmosphere. The levels and various rooms are built around trees and large windows overlook a lush, vibrantly green forest. We feel like we’re coming up for air when we join Caleb and Nathan for a quick upstairs break.
While inventor Nathan and young and curious Caleb are the main characters, the entire film hinges on and succeeds because of Ava, the robot (Alicia Vikander, 2014’s Seventh Son). She is captivating. We can see Ava’s wire and circuits, but she has a human face. This one brush stroke by Garland is why we feel such sympathy and connection with Ava – a simple face. Vikander must maintain an expressionless façade – no smiling, frowning, smirking, sneezing - zero tics. She is under a tremendous level of scrutiny because it’s only her face we see. Sure, she has a body, but it’s a green-screened, motion-captured cyborg. Her face can’t hide behind hair or even clothing, for why does circuitry require clothing? I cannot emphasize how mesmerizing it is to just stare at a front and center face attached to a robotic frame as it/she interacts with Caleb.
Nathan, on the other hand, is an extreme version of a hybrid Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs mash-up. He lives and works in his own fortress of solitude. Just getting there resembles travelling to Jurassic Park and the surprises awaiting our anxious protagonist are just as shocking as seeing DNA reconstructed dinosaurs. Guessing whether Nathan is everything he appears to be or not and how much he shares and keeps hidden is the film’s driving mystery. It also makes the audience second-guess what we’re taking in and ask ourselves questions of why we are or are not identifying with a machine as much as we catch ourselves doing.
For as many original and adapted screenplays as Alex Garland has churned out for Hollywood, this is only his first time directing. From the result, it is obvious he took careful notes from the directors who filmed his previous work. Garland creates a truly claustrophobic sense of space even though it is deceptively open. His characters are complicated and his A.I. creation, Ava, will be as memorable to audiences as the most famous A.I.s we can think of: HAL 9000, Bishop from Aliens, or anybody from Blade Runner. Ex Machina is a welcome addition to a cluttered sci-fi sub-genre. Here’s hoping it outshines its far more lackluster competitors.
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