In 2015, screenwriter Alex Garland made his directorial debut with Ex Machina, a sci-fi film that revolves around an Artificial Intelligence that may have achieved true sentience. What a far-out concept!
Ex Machina was a modest success, grossing $37.3 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.
Over the last 11 years, its reputation has only grown, making it one of the best movies of the 2010s — and one of the weirdest.
Watch With Us is a big fan of Ex Machina because it’s so odd, which is why you should stream it before it leaves HBO Max at the end of the month.
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The Premise Is Still Timely Over a Decade Later
As almost everyone has noticed by now, AI has crept into our lives over the last decade, and it’s already costing people their jobs. While there’s currently no AI that’s comparable to Ava (Alicia Vikander), it’s not so far-fetched to believe that there could be a creation like her in the future. Plenty of movies have tackled the idea of AI going rogue, most notably in The Terminator films.
Ex Machina opts for a different approach. While Ava does indeed go rogue, she still seems all too human while doing so. Domhnall Gleeson was an apt choice to play Caleb Smith, the ordinary programmer who is excited about the possibilities that Ava represents even before he lays eyes on her. Gleeson brings the human element to the film as he sees in Ava a lot of the things that he wants to see, as well as the aspects of her personality that Ava believes will entice him. People already have unhealthy relationships with chatbots. If they all looked like Ava, we’d really be in trouble.
Oscar Isaac Is a Different Kind of Frankenstein
It’s ironic that one of Oscar Isaac‘s most recent roles was Victor Frankenstein in Netflix’s Frankenstein movie, because his character, Nathan Bateman, is the Frankenstein of Ex Machina. Nathan created Ava without much regard for the implications of his feat, other than personal glory. Although Nathan seems very jovial, he also appears to be seduced by the idea that what he’s done with his creation makes him like a God.
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If Ava is a manipulative creation, it appears to be a trait that she picked up from Nathan. Outwardly, Nathan is very friendly towards Caleb, but that may be because he’s more interested in what Caleb can provide to the ongoing experiment. He’s almost like the bro version of Frankenstein in this film, but Nathan ultimately pays the price for his hubris, just like Victor.
Alicia Vikander Gives an Otherworldly Performance
Ex Machina won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Special Effects, but the film’s greatest asset is Vikander’s performance as Ava. The idea of Caleb providing a Turing Test on Ava is ironic because the entire film is a Turing Test being conducted on the audience.
The viewers are allowed to see different shades of Vikander’s Ava as she wraps Caleb around her finger. That’s a talent that may not have been what Nathan had in mind for her. But if Nathan wanted Ava to know her role, then he shouldn’t have given her a female body in the first place.
Ex Machina is streaming on HBO Max through April 30.
