After providing scripts for the likes of 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Dredd, novelist Alex Garland is adding director to his resume with Ex Machina, a stylish sci-fi thriller which tackles some well worn ideas in an extremely smart and creepy way. Almost a year before they the screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Domhnail Gleeson and Oscar Isacc team up as Caleb, a coder working for major search engine Bluebook, and Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. Summoned to Nathan's remote mountain home under the pretense of winning the staff lottery to spend a week with the boss, Caleb soon discovers he has been chosen as the human component in a Turing test to establish if a computer, in this case A.I. robot Ava (Alicia Vikander), can pass as a human being. What follows is a week of tests where it becomes increasingly harder for Caleb to figure out who, or what, to trust.
Working from his own script, Garland really impresses in his directorial debut, easing us into the story by degrees, making sure we know everything we need to know before the movie takes several turns, all the time making sure we are up to speed as it goes (though at times you can feel the wheels spinning while we get there). We're in the realm of smart sci-fi here, most of the time spent on every man Caleb debating the nature of A.I. with alpha male Nathan, or locked in probing conversation with Ava, but it's utterly compelling, the jargon never once going over your head. The story moves at a deliberate place, Garland setting up beats early to be paid off later, and the subtle change in tone is barely felt, making it's transformation into sci-fi horror in the third act that much more rewarding. Garland deftly steers the action where it needs to go, the claustrophobic, clinical hallways of Nathan's compound helping with the growing sense of unease. The premise will immediately throw up thoughts of twists and counter twists in the audiences minds, and Garland tackles them head on at certain points, messing with conceptions, delivering one scene in particular that will not fail to make your skin crawl.
Ex Machina is basically a three hander, and the cast assembled play their roles to a tee. Armed with a pretty convincing American accent, Gleeson provides the perfect p.o.v character, brimming with almost child like joy when first presented with Ava. But that soon gives way to palatable doubt, and, in fact, each actor plays the several facets to their fleshed out characters perfectly, as they all pass the baton of both manipulator and manipulated as the movie marches on, keeping the audience guessing to what is actually going on. Isacc is suitably smarmy and sinister as the borderline alcoholic bro programmer, relishing the several moments where you just want to punch Nathan in the mouth. But it's Vikander's Ava, a demure collection of whirring servos and off putting LED's, who impresses the most. She transcends the fact that for pretty much all the movies runtime she is a walking effect, bringing real humanity to the role, with so much going on behind her eyes, the only part of her seemingly untouched by CGI.
A fantastic debut for Garland the director, Ex Machina provides a stylish, entertaining and endlessly fascinating slice of dark sci-fi.
Working from his own script, Garland really impresses in his directorial debut, easing us into the story by degrees, making sure we know everything we need to know before the movie takes several turns, all the time making sure we are up to speed as it goes (though at times you can feel the wheels spinning while we get there). We're in the realm of smart sci-fi here, most of the time spent on every man Caleb debating the nature of A.I. with alpha male Nathan, or locked in probing conversation with Ava, but it's utterly compelling, the jargon never once going over your head. The story moves at a deliberate place, Garland setting up beats early to be paid off later, and the subtle change in tone is barely felt, making it's transformation into sci-fi horror in the third act that much more rewarding. Garland deftly steers the action where it needs to go, the claustrophobic, clinical hallways of Nathan's compound helping with the growing sense of unease. The premise will immediately throw up thoughts of twists and counter twists in the audiences minds, and Garland tackles them head on at certain points, messing with conceptions, delivering one scene in particular that will not fail to make your skin crawl.
Ex Machina is basically a three hander, and the cast assembled play their roles to a tee. Armed with a pretty convincing American accent, Gleeson provides the perfect p.o.v character, brimming with almost child like joy when first presented with Ava. But that soon gives way to palatable doubt, and, in fact, each actor plays the several facets to their fleshed out characters perfectly, as they all pass the baton of both manipulator and manipulated as the movie marches on, keeping the audience guessing to what is actually going on. Isacc is suitably smarmy and sinister as the borderline alcoholic bro programmer, relishing the several moments where you just want to punch Nathan in the mouth. But it's Vikander's Ava, a demure collection of whirring servos and off putting LED's, who impresses the most. She transcends the fact that for pretty much all the movies runtime she is a walking effect, bringing real humanity to the role, with so much going on behind her eyes, the only part of her seemingly untouched by CGI.
A fantastic debut for Garland the director, Ex Machina provides a stylish, entertaining and endlessly fascinating slice of dark sci-fi.
