When people create true artificial intelligence, it can go both ways. Depends on your level of optimism and trust in technology. AIs could potentially be the answer to questions we can’t answer. At the very least, they could replace us in things we don’t really want to do. Or they could start procreate on their own, and obliterate the race that created them. The latter has had some influential scientific minds on its side, with the late Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk speaking out in warning about the dangers of AI. This sentiment is often echoed in science fiction films. As scary the idea of robots overtaking humanity sounds, it makes for one hell of a cinema. The same goes for the 2014 Ex Machina where director Alex Garland seems to have taken the “Black Mirror” approach. He provides equally fascinating and terrifying window into the near, hopefully fully fictional future.

Not another apocalypse

It’s refreshing to see not another apocalypse and robots in the center of a blockbuster action movie, but a small-scale and intimate story. Ex Machina represents the more contemplative science fiction. Despite the huge issues it handles, the film does well to scale it down. It focuses on what would probably follow the creation of the first true AI in reality – endless tests and conversations. This is, luckily, supported by smart and solid screenplay. It starts slowly, relying on philosophical conversations between the characters. They do provide food for thought over the place of humans on Earth in the face of the inevitable technological progress and ask tough questions of viewers about their own humanity. Smart movies are luckily not an exception, but still, a thumb up for Ex Machina for making the audience think.

And another one up for supporting the (in some way) creepy conversations with an equally creepy atmosphere. The film uses the horror trope of a small number of characters locked in a single house, only for one to wander off the prescribed path to uncover something disturbing. It helps gradually create an intense and increasingly unpleasant atmosphere. However, after such a slow and suspenseful plot, the ending unfortunately doesn’t deliver so well. The final twist is good and there is enough evidence for eager viewers to uncover it way sooner (or not, if you just get sucked in by the atmosphere as I did). Yet it feels quite out of place to end such a conversational movie with such a drastic and violent sequence. When the film, again, follows it up by a slow and contemplative scene, the acts of violence only seem to be there for the shock value.

The film would have done better it if remained more focused on the characters and their inner motivations. While unanswered questions often make a film better, Ex Machina could have used a deeper dive into Ava’s psychology. Overall, though, the characters are interesting. In a way, they seem as one-dimensional, embodying archetypal roles – a princess locked in a tower, a hubristic villain, a knight in a shining armor. But eventually, there is more than seems to this balance of power in the relationships and the characters are layered in an interesting way. Luckily, the film has the cast to handle it. Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleeson all bring strong performances to the table, carefully crafting the changes in their characters.

Electric visuals

In a way, Vikander had her work cut out for her thanks to a high quality CGI which was able to make the combination of a human face and a robot body so believable. An interesting thing to notice is the signature sound that you could hear every time Ava was moving. It was a sort of audio representation of the electricity flowing in her “veins”. It served as a reminder of her true nature when the audience – alongside the male protagonist – started to forget it. Her theme in the soundtrack also helped to build her character. It showed her as innocent and hopeful, and felt somewhat out of this world. Ava’s transparent body was paralleled by the house as a whole with glass walls and doors. The entire production design dedicated to minimalism helped evoke the feeling of the technological and futuristic.

Ex Machina is both a simple film and a film that needs full attention. Not because of having convoluted plot or too many characters. On the contrary, it’s simple and intimate, focused on human relationships and relationships of humans to humanity itself. But it needs the full attention of viewers. The film comes to an unfortunately drastic climax that feels very out of place. However, the well-crafted relationships between the characters are engaging enough (thanks to solid screenplay and the trio of actors) to make up for it. With all this, the biggest strength lies in masterfully constructed tension rising through the film which has only something to do with the plot and a lot to do with our own impending future. Because as Ex Machina leaves the audience with a knot in the stomach, we know it may not be very different from this version of it.

TL;DR: Ex Machina shows us a terrifying technological future by slowly building up the tension between characters and the feelings of discomfort. The production design is amazing and actors engaging; what is missing is a deeper dive into the psychology of the characters.

8/10