Movie Review: Ex Machina

Movie Review: "Ex Machina"

It's a tale as old as time (or at least as old as science fiction).  How intelligent do we want the machines that we surround ourselves with?  What would happen if they gained sentience, if they could think and make decisions for themselves?  How would we react?  Would they deserve to be treated the same way we would treat someone with flesh and blood?  These questions seem even more relevant today as we are surrounded by technology more so than ever before.  Our phones keep getting smarter, algorithms are predicting our shopping activity, tailoring online ads to our interests.  Is it really so hard to imagine that there may come a day when machines are thinking for themselves?

The plot of the film is relatively simple.  Caleb Smith (Domnhall Gleeson) works at a Google-like tech company and is chosen to go to his boss, Nathan Bateman's (Oscar Isaac) isolated home to test out an AI that he has built.  This AI is in the form of Ava (Alicia Vikander) and the crux of the story is Caleb's interactions with both Ava and her creator.   

This premise will sound overly familiar to anyone who has seen a science fiction movie in the past 30 years, but writer/director Alex Garland proves that there is still fresh material to be mined from it.  It's the tone of the film that really grabs you.  Watching the trailers for the film, you may think that you are in store for a straight up thriller.  Garland, who also wrote "28 Days Later," "Sunshine," and "Dredd," plays with and circumvents those expectations.  The tone of the film veers from wonder, like when Caleb helicopters into the lush green forest that houses Nathan's compound or when Caleb meets Ava for the first time to levity.  There are unexpected moments of humor sprinkled throughout the film, but even during these lighter moments, there is still a thread of tension running just underneath the surface.

Garland's screenplay is strong, but event the strongest screenplays can fall apart if the actors charged with bringing it to life drop the ball.  This is especially true when the work of bringing this complex screenplay to life are in the hands of three people.  Luckily, Gleeson, Isaac and Vikander do exemplary work.  Oscar Isaac is a name that you will be hearing a lot of very soon.  He will be appearing in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and will be the titular villain in next summer's, "X-Men: Apocalypse."  Watching his performance in "Ex Machina," you see why his name will soon be on everyone's lips.  In one scene, Isaac is oozing smarmy, ex-frat boy machismo, but in the next he is the charming, personable guy that everyone wants to hang out with.  These swerves in personality keep the audience off balance and unsure if they should take what Nathan is saying at face value or question everything.  

Gleeson plays Caleb as a likeable every man.  An orphan who has found his calling and is excited to be singled out, hungry for the praise of his brilliant boss, even as he resents the condescension that Nathan throws his way.  In Gleeson's hands, Caleb has a childlike curiosity that lends itself well to the test that Bateman wants him to carry out, but he never comes off as naive.  Caleb and Ava's various sessions are the emotional center of the film.

Out of the three principals, Alicia Vikander is the real revelation.  I don't think I've ever seen her in anything before, but I'm excited to search out some of her other work.  Vikander brings what you would expect from an AI speaking with someone new for the first time.  There is a sense of wonderment, a wide-eyed curiosity.  There are also things you don't expect.  There is humor and warmth.  There are flashes of vulnerability.  The fear of exposing your self to someone new, someone that you may be developing feelings for and that once they see these things they will judge you and reject you.  As you are feeling all these feelings for Ava, Vikander never loses this thread of menace that has you wondering, in the back of your mind, should you really trust her.  It's astounding. 

Even with it's somewhat overly familiar premise, "Ex Machina" is one of the best science fiction films of the year, maybe the last five years.  The screenplay coupled with the top tier performances by it's trio of actors make this film one you don't want to miss, even if science fiction isn't your thing.  If great films are your thing, then this movie is for you.

Grade: A