Ex Machina (2014)

In recent weeks I’ve been widely expanding my film watching repertoire. This is by far the most ‘thinky’ movie I’ve seen so far this year. It also just so happens to be one of the best.

I think ‘Ex_Machina’ is one of those where the less you know the better but to best sell you on this film I should tell you maybe what it is about, not the plot. Basically, it is about A.I., morals and love. It tackles these issues sublimely and from the start to end I was questioning what I was watching. You can’t passively watch ‘Ex_Machina’. You need to be thinking about it because that’s what’ll give you the best experience with it. Director Alex Garland really made me wonder what the characters were doing was right or wrong at points. That’s something I can really admire.

This film is something that I really like in its content. It is a small film with large consequences. I’m a big fan of these stories that portray small events that could drastically change the world around them. And at the heart of this story needs to be some good characters for it to work. Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb and for being the worst performance out of the three leads, he is phenomenal. He goes above and beyond the wimpy General Hux seen in the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy and played into the story perfectly. I wish I could say more but again- spoilers. Following Gleeson from ‘Star Wars’ is the unrecognisable Oscar Isaac. A far cry from his hot-shot pilot Poe Dameron, Isaac plays an intensely complex character and is easily the best performer here. I was worried that all I’d see was Poe but quite quickly all I could think was how I wasn’t seeing Poe. It’s a shame Isaac hasn’t had any major lead roles yet as he is truly an outstanding actor. Rounding off the trio is Alicia Vikander as the cybernetic Ava. While the CGI team does a brilliant job in turning Vikander into a robot, it is her performance that sells it. At points I was convinced she was playing a robot while at others I even forgot that. Of course this plays into the narrative extraordinarily. But the critical acclaim she received for this performance is well deserved. Isaac may be my favourite but Vikander comes a close second.

I can’t go too in detail with ‘Ex_Machina’ without ruining the experience for you. So I just want to say: go watch it. It is incredibly intelligent and something I feel very glad I watched. If you haven’t seen it, I’d say you’re certainly missing out on a modern classic.