[8]
Writer/director Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men) delivers a thoughtful, character-driven psychological thriller with sci-fi overtones in Ex Machina. Domhnall Gleeson plays a computer programmer summoned to a remote research facility where an eccentric entrepreneur (Oscar Isaac) has created a highly advanced artificial intelligence in the form of a woman named Ava (Alicia Vikander). Gleeson performs interviews with Ava to determine how close she may be to ‘the singularity’, a point in evolution in which A.I. can improve itself without human intervention. Ava flirts with Gleeson’s character and gains his trust, while Isaac’s character proves to be an alienating alcoholic. Ava asks for Gleeson’s help in escaping the facility before Isaac wipes her memory, effecting ‘killing’ her. When Gleeson discovers how Isaac has mistreated his A.I. creations, he decides to help her at his peril.
Ex Machina is chamber piece, with its three talented lead actors carrying the film on their very capable shoulders. Vikander (Oscar winner for her role in The Danish Girl) succeeds in winning over the audience’s trust as well as Gleeson’s, while Isaac’s unstable behavior creates an increasingly volatile atmosphere. The film gets most interesting when Garland presents the possibility that perhaps Isaac’s character isn’t as cold-hearted as he seems, and that Ava may not be a genuine damsel in distress. Caught in the middle is Gleeson, vulnerable to the tug-of-war on his allegiance. At one point, he cracks — so worried that he is being manipulated, that he suspects even he may be an artificial intelligence.
Garland’s Oscar-nominated screenplay is lean for plotting and character development, and simultaneously ripe with provocative ideas. How much does sex and attraction play into our notion of humanity? Can A.I. break free from programming to replicate those same kinds of seemingly erratic idiosyncrasies? Or are our idiosyncrasies not erratic at all — but rather the result of programming (by nature or nurture) of which we’re simply unaware? It’s a wonderfully smart script. And as with Garland’s other films, it’s beautifully executed — one of the better science-fiction films in recent memory. Though, honestly, for how much longer will it be science-fiction instead of science-reality?
Academy Award: Best Visual Effects
Oscar Nomination: Best Original Screenplay