Ex Machina, Alex Garland
Ex Machina is one of those films that really sneaks up on you. Its setup is deceptively simple, following an ordinary programmer asked to test out a possible breakthrough in artificial intelligence. Our lead character, Caleb, conducts what is essentially a turing test in order to find out just how human this computer can behave. Despite only featuring a few characters and with a relatively brief running time, Ex Machina sticks with us as much as any movie this year, and it’s perhaps even more interesting after the credits roll. If a machine can become indistinguishable from a real person, is there actually a difference anymore? If we use these conscious machines to perform tasks like regular machines do, is that not just slavery? Should we be rooting for Ava’s escape or not? Alex Garland expertly manipulates our emotions and makes us constantly unsure of who we should be rooting for, and it’s not long before our paranoia builds and builds so that we feel like Ava is talking directly to us. The presence of Oscar Isaac doesn’t hurt, either, as he delivers an absolutely chilling performance as tech genius Nathan.
Ex Machina is so much more engaging than similar AI-driven films like I, Robot or Chappie precisely because of its less is more approach. (Brendan Morrow)
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