“Ex Machina” is a most intriguing science-fiction movie that explores big ideas and does not depend on explosions. The movie stars Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb, Oscar Isaac as Nathan, and Alicia Vikander as Ava.
Caleb is a programmer who is selected by his company’s CEO, (a reclusive computer scientist named Nathan, who lives in his own high-tech research facility), to spend a week with him learning about his latest creation named Ava. Nathan is very laid-back and on the outgoing side, even referring to Caleb as ‘dude,’ in their first interaction. They try to bond over some beer, as Nathan can tell that Caleb is tense and seemingly uncomfortable.
The title of the movie comes from the Latin phrase “deus ex machina” (“god from the machine”). In this case Ava is that android machine, while Nathan is in essence playing god, which Caleb remarks during the movie.
The film examines issues of artificial intelligence, individuality, and power in a patriarchal sense. Nathan puts Caleb in charge of administering Turing Tests (based on the work of Alan Turing) to Ava, which are tests used to determine a machine’s ability to show intelligent behavior on par with that of a human. These tests are broken into various sessions.
As they unfold, we see that it is not always so simple to determine if a machine creation such as Ava can be easily classified. Caleb, who is a trusting individual, comes to care for Ava on a human level, but as for whether Ava in turn comes to care for Caleb, that will be left up to the viewer to decipher. Ava it seems flirts with Caleb, which makes him feel ill at ease, not because he does not appreciate it, but perhaps because he is not used to handling such attention. Nathan makes it clear that he is in charge of things and uses his power to be really controlling and possessive of Ava, viewing her as a child. He thinks quite highly of himself in his role.
The production design of the film is impressive, as are the performances by Gleeson, Isaac, and Vikander. Despite being Irish, Gleeson has an impeccable American accent and effectively conveys a young man who clearly has high intellectual abilities, but socially might be lacking. Isaac who could have gone over-the-top with his mad scientist role, for the most part is restrained and hypnotic. Vikander brings vulnerability and sexiness to the part, along with genuine emotion.
I thought the ending scene of the movie was not believable in that a minor character would have questioned why another was not at a specified place and would have gone looking for him.
The movie is able to really build tension and get you thinking on a deep-level. If only more movies were like this.
