Alex Garland is an accomplished screenwriter who has written the screenplays for 28 DAYS LATER…, SUNSHINE, NEVER LET ME GO, and DREDD. His latest screenplay is perhaps his most challenging, possibly least commercial and probably his best. So it's no surprise that he chose it for his directorial debut. And while it is challenging material, it is logistically contained in that it has four principal characters and essentially takes place in one location.

 

A number of recent films have tackled Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) but none better than EX MACHINA. Here we have genius inventor Nathan who recruits employee Caleb through a contest to test his creation Ava to see if he has truly achieved A.I. Caleb's interview sessions with Ava are riveting and serve as the centerpiece of the picture.

 

The other main thread is the relationship between Nathan and Caleb, two men who have never met before Caleb was taken on a long journey to Nathan's lavish, isolated home. In their scenes together Nathan tests Caleb as much as Caleb is testing Ava and it is equally riveting to watch.

 

Oscar Isaac has proven to be a wonderful, charismatic actor who changes dramatically from role to role in pictures like BODY OF LIES, ROBIN HOOD, DRIVE, THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY and A MOST VIOLENT YEAR. His work is excellent here as a very complicated man whom you can never quite get a handle on.

 

Alicia Vikander does beautiful, haunting work as Nathan's creation Ava. She is so compelling that you cannot take your eyes off of her. And the special effects used to bring her to life with a partially transparent body are an outstanding achievement.

 

Domhnall Gleeson is the audience's entry point to this complex story and he does solid work as Caleb. He is perhaps the weak link of the three main performances. I think if we felt more joy and excitement in Caleb with regard to the opportunity he has been given, the picture would have been that much better.

 

EX MACHINA raises a lot of questions and the story follows those paths sometimes in disturbing ways. While the picture goes in a direction that is somewhat predictable, it is definitely not the obvious predictable direction that we have seen before in sci-fi pictures. There is a lot to discover here.

 

My main criticism of the story is that it seems as though Caleb's interviews of Ava are relatively short and he only does one a day. Why doesn't he do marathon long sessions with Ava? Why spread it out a little each day? And since he is only doing one a day, the story does a poor job of depicting how he fills all of the remaining hours in the day. He spends some of that time with Nathan. But it felt like a lot of the time is not accounted for.

 

And a minor gripe is some poor CGI at the climax of the film. The effects could have been done practically and would likely have worked fine. But considering how amazing the Ava effects are, the poor CGI really stands out and is a distraction.

 

While movie theaters are full of franchises - sequels, reboots, remakes, spinoffs, it's refreshing to get an original picture like EX MACHINA. It is adult, thinking person's sci-fi. It is intelligent and told at a deliberate pace, but it is always engaging. And it will give you a lot to think about and talk about afterwards. I cannot recommend it highly enough.