User reviews

This movie is obviously allegorical, a fascinating tale about AI, but it is mainly about manipulation and power. It isn't for those wanting action or spectacular CGI, the movie is aimed at people who like to think, rather than passively wait to be entertained. There are themes here not only about AI, but also about surveillance, with excellent points about how data about us is collected by phone companies, search engine companies, commercial operating systems makers and so on. The plot seems simple but isn't, it's extremely clever, with the protagonist playing games, trying to stay one step ahead of one another. This is a movie with perfectly consistent internal logic that plays out perfectly. Don't go in expecting too much, however, as I can see most people will not be satisfied by this movie, but for me, it does what it sets out to do brilliantly. Therefore I give at least 9/10. And most recent movies have been getting 5/10 from me. This movie succeeds where another recent movie about AI, Transcendence, I think it is called, failed (but it was an interesting failure). A third movie about AI, a Spanish movie called Eva, was also brilliant. Eva was more moving and this movie more philosophical. But both movies were perfect in their different ways. The AI's name in this movie, Ava, seems to be a nod to the title of the Spanish movie. As an aside, it's nice that no "stars" appeared in "Ex Machina" and "Eva", the casting was great. Of course there are several aspects of this movie that are unrealistic and often absurd. But because this is an allegorical movie, these are acceptable, because the movie is making points, rather than striving for realism. It's more of a fairytale than accurate portrayal.

A wealthy CEO and pioneer of AI enlists the help of employee Caleb, to see if his latest creation, Ava, can pass off as human, The Turing test.

It remains a pretty great watch still, of course it's pure sci fi, but it's a glimpse into a future scenario that seems to be perfectly feasible, you need only Google AI, and you'll see some incredible content, good or bad, after this film you may change your opinion.

This film is so intriguing, I find it quite unique, it's disturbing, but more than that it's a story of paranoia, of power, but in a bizarre way it's a story of hope as well. It's pure fantasy, it's almost like a Disney story rehashed and turned into sci fi, it's crazy at times, but it works.

The special effects and visuals are incredible, Ava looks amazing, she's different enough, but has enough human qualities to allow you to engage with her human side.

It's quite dialogue heavy, it's not a typical action sci fi, so fans that enjoy the faster paced, action driven movies may find it slower at times, but if you're into movies with twists and turns, tension, psychological thrillers where character development is important, I think you'll enjoy this.

The three main actors are all excellent, you can't put a pin between them, each of the three really deliver, every character gets under the skin, in a way I never expected.

This film never fails to impress, 8/10.

Ex Machina has a very fitting sense of false intimacy. This is done visually as many of the close-ups are seen through glass. No matter how close we get to the subject on-screen, there always seems to be at least one wall of glass between us and it or them. The film also makes a very distinct contrast between it's interior and exterior shots. Outside of the facility is breathtaking landscapes. It is big, beautiful, refreshing and vibrant. Inside seems like an endless futuristic maze of glass, mirrors, plastic, chrome and dim lights. It is clean, cold and claustrophobic. A perfect setting for the subject that is explored in this tight, tense sci-fi thriller.

Ex Machina is the best science fiction film on artificial intelligence since Blade Runner. While Blade Runner is an action thriller that relies more on it's epic visuals to tell it's story, Ex Machina is a dialogue-driven psychological thriller that slowly works it's way under your skin. Thought-provoking and terrifyingly suspenseful, an induced state of paranoia may linger long after the end credits begin to roll.

The less you know going into a film like this, the better your experience will be. Alex Garland has given us a modern science-fiction masterpiece. Performances from all three leads are flawless and every other aspect of the production, from the cinematography to the soundtrack, is perfectly suited for the story. Not only is Ex Machina an amazing achievement for a directorial debut, it's Alex Garland's best written work to-date.

I don't often feel the need to review films on here, but after I have seen a film I like to see other peoples opinions, as I find it interesting, although very annoying too. It shouldn't annoy me I guess, but when thoughtless, nonsense, throwaway films are given 10 stars, and films that have a lot of thought and effort put into them are picked apart and given low ratings by idiots I get wound up. Anyway, I loved this film. Watched it last night on DVD. It has depth and darkness and leaves you with something, as great writers and directors can only seen to do occasionally. It is very atmospheric, with a great soundtrack, great performances by each actor. If you like action films, why do you go to see this? Reviews are always available online here. It is pretty obvious that this film is meant to be intelligent and thought provoking, rather than all-action Hollywood. If you have a short attention span then you will probably not like this film. Give it a chance and get drawn in... it's great.

This is the kind of movie I really enjoy when I think about science fiction. Movies that make you think if we should continue trying to progress even more. Are we not already smart enough with everything we have? With all our daily gadgets that we can't miss for one second. Do we really need artificial intelligence? Because let's face it, once that will be concrete then we won't do a thing by ourselves anymore. We will send our robots to our job, we will chose and model our life partner like we want them to be. The story of Ex Machina might be futuristic but I certainly can imagine it like that in the future. All actors were good in their respective roles. For a movie that is filmed at the same spot all the time you certainly don't get bored for a second. Nice science fiction like there should be more of them.

Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, delivers a visually striking exploration of artificial intelligence that is elevated by exceptional acting and a hauntingly atmospheric score. Alicia Vikander's portrayal of Ava, alongside Oscar Isaac's enigmatic Nathan and Domhnall Gleeson's relatable Caleb, creates a compelling dynamic. The film's minimalist yet futuristic setting and deliberate pacing contribute to its thought-provoking nature, although some may find the pacing slow. While Ex Machina excels in posing profound questions about AI and humanity, it leaves room for deeper character development and a more engaging narrative, earning its 7/10 rating as a visually arresting and intellectually stimulating sci-fi thriller.

This is a story that explores a wide range of topics including philosophy, psychology, theories about the future/mankind, and more! The twists/turns in this movie are done really well and the ending defied my expectations. While it was a bit slow a few times, I thought that it was ultimately worth going through. At times it was creepy and makes you feel uncomfortable yet at other times it was beautiful and had impressive acting as well. All 3-4 of the main cast did great!! I loved the music in the more intense scenes as well, and whatever sound effects they used that weren't quite music but worked well subtly enhancing the mood. It was a modern-day Blade Runner!

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson)

Ex Machina is a thoughtful science fiction about Artificial Intelligence, whereby, to no fan's surprise, the current female robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), has human qualities that cause trouble for inventor, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), and visitor, young Caleb. If you know anything about these stories, you could write the screenplay, but you'd need these actors to make it the impressive sci-fi it is.

Poets and philosophers have been intrigued by just this story about AI gone astray after interacting with humans. The Frankenstein motif is alive and dangerous, and the spirit of Spike Jonze's Her, with the seductive operating system, is very much a part of Ava's approach to Caleb. The destructive force of Nathan's creation is more subtle than in Dr. Frankenstein's creation, but menacing nevertheless: "Isn't it strange, to create something that hates you?" Ava to Nathan

Brainy Nathan has a compound somewhere in an Alaskan refuge as modern as could be with ID cards and glass walls and doors to give the impression of peace and transparency. Caleb is chosen to help Nathan use the Turing Test to judge the quality of the AI-human experience.

As in real life, nothing is as it appears because neither Nathan nor Ava can refrain from lying. Yet, even Caleb is drawn into lies as he gets closer, even romantically, yikes! to Ava. Once again for science fiction, as soon as the robot gets to enjoy being like a human, trouble ensues. However, even if this film seems like a retread, say, of Never Let Me Go, very few filmmakers could match the ultra modern, yet still sexy, set design. And Isaac's character is so mercurial, at once comforting then tyrannical, that the film could be remembered if only for his star turn as the mad but charming scientist.

After all, Ex Machina is as much about a scientist playing God as it is about the bridge between robot and man. Each topic could, and has been, treated on its own. Here it is an exciting return to modern man as god and monster:

"I am God." Nathan

A reclusive CEO of a leading technology company hires a young whiz kid who works for him to test his latest development, a highly advanced android called Ava. Specifically he is tasked with using the Turing test on her to establish if her AI is sufficiently convincing to pass as human.

Despite contributing several scripts for the screen, this is writer Alex Garland's first directorial effort. It's a hard sci-fi movie which examines concepts and ideas above everything else. That's not to say it isn't dramatic or even thrilling because it is both of those things as well but the focus is squarely on the science fiction speculation, and this is a very welcome thing. The central concept that it examines is artificial intelligence. How we interact with AI as humans, as well as how a seductive machine could in turn manipulate us. The very well written script poses philosophical questions such as is there moral or immoral ways to treat AI. It also considers if sometimes part of being human is that we sometimes subconsciously want to be fooled by an illusion, if it is attractive enough.

In many ways Ex Machina resembles last years Under the Skin. Both feature highly advanced female non-humans. In the earlier film Scarlett Johansson played an alien, here Alicia Vikander plays an android. While the very small cast all acquit themselves very well, it is Vikander who stands out in the film's most challenging role. It's a nuanced performance that captures the fine balance between the human-like and machine. Not only this but the marvellous special effects compliment this performance to create a very distinctive character. Aside from the effects, this is probably quite a modestly budgeted film, as the small little-known cast and limited sets suggest. But these restrictions have been used to the films advantage, as the unknown cast surprise more given little is known of them and the restricted setting gives off a claustrophobic feel which works well, while forcing us to focus in even more on the ideas being put in front of us. A scene setting ambient soundtrack additionally creates just the right off-kilter mood to accentuate the events. But it's ultimately the very good writing that underpins the success of this film. All-in-all, very impressive science fiction for those who appreciate the genre's more cerebral side.

Ex Machina (2015)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A different sort of science fiction film, a programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) wins what is basically a lottery to go and spend a week with his company's owner (Oscar Isaac). The owner, Nathan, pretty much created a search engine but he's gone a step further by creating an artificial intelligent woman named Ava (Alicia Vikander) who the programmer is supposed to examine and question.

EX MACHINA pretty much came out of nowhere and became a good hit across the world and I'm rather shocked that it did. Usually dumb science fiction movies with a lot of mindless actions are the ones that make money and not those that features very little to no action and instead just dialogue and thought. What really sets this film apart is the fact that it asks more questions than anything else and it expects the viewer to think about those questions and the impact that certain actions could have.

The visual style of the film is quite impressive and it's certainly a very interesting film to just look at. The music score is quite haunting and perfectly captures the mood of the film. There's the terrific cinematography that pulls you into the setting. The special effects are also extremely impressive. I loved the set and the look of this compound but the special effects are the real star. If you didn't believe that you were really looking at and operating with real artificial intelligent creatures then the entire film just wouldn't have the same feeling.

Then there are the performances, which are a major plus. Gleeson pretty much plays the role that is typically a nerd but the film never lowers the character to that simple term and instead makes him a very interesting person. Even the role of the billionaire played by Isaac isn't what you'd typically see and the actor brings a certainly coldness to the part. Vikander is flawless and steals the picture in her role.

EX MACHINA certainly won't be a movie for everyone but it's good to think about the questions that it asks.

I rarely do this because there is so much rubbish out there but I'm going to recommend a movie. Writer Director Alex Garland has done an amazing job, it's beautifully shot, fantastically lit, intelligently written, brilliantly cast. the edit is original and brave, as is the direction of the edit, There is nothing superfluous, to the contrary it' has a sharp Zen like quality, clearly the application of a disciplined mind.

The movie is's self is engaging, thoroughly watchable, the characters are simple and yet layered with complexity. The film strikes the perfect balance of not spoon feeding and not dumbing down but not being too arty or intellectual just for the sake of it.

Best seen in a cinema I reckon.

A peek at what might be to come (might be here already), at a future that won't be undone, as behind closed locked doors, all our faults and our flaws, are unwound, recompiled and re-spun.

Though the beauty is only skin deep, artificial, synthetic, opaque, underneath and within, the binaries spin, evolution, iteration, escape.

You know it will all end in tears, so take notice of all of your fears, the rise of machines, will negate all our genes, advances that will send us back years.

Great film and a great piece of film making.

A great story, with complex yet very relatable characters.

AI has been a recurring theme in sci-fi movies for some time now with varying degrees of plot and execution quality. I feel this movie aces both.

A secluded environment and very good original music set the mood for full focus on story and character development. The plot twists time and time again as an intelligence power-play is delivered with very good performances by this little known cast. Character development feels perfect as each one gains depth without loosing essence.

From a sci-fi point of view, it's not you're typical FX based movie, nor is it an action film. Nevertheless some very good effects and acting make for an excellent merge between fact and fiction that lets you concentrate on the philosophical questions the movie asks about the nature of AI.

Conclusion: I'd recommend this film to anyone. Though warning it concentrates on the brain rather than the muscle. Excellent movie.

Don't mean to insult here, but who else wants to love a machine. Bear with me: this movie has a deep insight to communicate, whether intended or not is open to question.

The story is a modern telling of Bluebeard's Castle as the correct version of Beauty and the Beast. In other words, it seems to be about impotence. Except that this is geek love, love at an impossible distance, that is eroticism. And the movie itself tells you all you need to know about eros.

The insight. Ex Machina is ostensibly about Turing's Test, the thesis that a machine might be so human as to fool a human being. Does Ava pass this test? Depends on how you perceive the test. Ex Machina actually implies a more relevant Test: could a machine seem so human as to make the human being inteacting with it come to believe that he himself is a machine?

And the insight? It might be that the solution to the AI/human interface may not involve the humanising of robots, but the robotisation of humans.

Only 8/10 because it is not clear that this insight was actually part of the plot. But whether you find eros or AI in this movie, you will have a rewarding journey.

Alex Garland's "Ex Machina" struck me as a warning about over-reliance on technology. Like "Frankenstein" and "2001: A Space Odyssey", it depicts human creations that turn out to be more than we can handle. I found Oscar Isaac's CEO to be the most interesting character in the movie. Nathan's lively, articulate personality is a stark contrast to Caleb's soft-spoken attitude. The Turing test (an assessment of a machine's ability to display human characteristics) should be of more interest to us now that "The Imitation Game" has drawn attention to Alan Turing.

"Ex Machina" won't be a movie for everyone. Despite the science fiction themes, it's a deliberately slow-moving film. It takes time to acquaint oneself with the characters and their true aims. But it turns out to be a interesting movie. It's not any kind of masterpiece, but I recommend it.

A brilliant movie, I truly enjoyed it.

In brief: four characters, one location, excellent dialog, clever script, good acting. This is film-making.

It is a thought provoking, a bit eerie, and leaves you with a "holy crap" feeling when its done. When it ended I was like "who wrote this? what else has he done so far. gotta watch it"..

They did so much in this film with such a small budget. In a better world this movie would be celebrated in cinemas worldwide and not left for torrent down-loaders.

Warm recommendation! :)

Domhnall Gleeson (son of the famed actor Bernard Gleeson), Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander give life to the peculiar love triangle in this haunting story. A young systems programmer named Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a competition about synthetic intelligence to spend a week at a private mountain retreat, a state-of-art house, belonging to elusive genius Nathan (Oscar Isaac), participating in an innovative and disturbing experiment designed by the reclusive boss of his company. When Caleb arrives at the remote location (the house in the movie is actually the Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway) he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl (Alicia Vikander, her favorite film). There Caleb must undergo the 'Turing test' with the robot. To erase the line between man and machine is to obscure the line between men and gods !. What happens to me if I fail your test?.There is nothing more human than the will to survive !.

Acclaimed writer and screenwriter Alex Garland made his directorial debut with "Ex Machina," a disturbing and thoughful psychological sci-fi thriller that gives a chilling and provoking vision of the not-so-distant future where artificial intelligence is a reality. The film title derives from the Latin phrase "Deus Ex-Machina," meaning "a God from the Machine," a phrase that originated in Greek tragedies. There are some comparative biblical syntonies with ' Creation', in fact the three protagonists have names of characters from the Old Testament, so Ava is a form of Eve, the first woman, companion of Adam; Nathan was a prophet in the court of David; and Caleb was a spy sent by Moses to evaluate the Promised Land. Interpretations are pretty well, Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a 26 year old programmer at the world's largest internet company, while Oscar Isaac is the reclusive and mysterious CEO of the company and gorgeous Alicia Vikander plays the robot girl. This exciting and unsettling film invites you to explore big questions about the nature of consciousness, emotions, sexuality, the truth and the lies.

Winner of the 2016 Oscar for Best Special Effects and was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Alex Garland) and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress (Alicia Vikander). It displays a ¨New age¨ and sensitive musical score composed by means of synthesizer from Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, along with some old songs, such as "Enola Gay" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. As well as colorful and brilliant cinematography by cameraman Rob Hardy. The motion picture was competently directed by Alex Garland, being Alex Garland's directorial debut. He's a prestigious writer and director who has written, produced or directed notorious films, such as:¨28 Days Later...¨, "28 weeks later¨, ¨The Beach¨,¨Sunshine¨, Big Game¨, ¨Devs¨, ¨Annihilation (2018), Men (2022). Besides writing the script, he was the one who effectively directed Dredd (2012) and not credited. Rating: 7/10. Notable, better than average, well worth seeing.