Uniquely good

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2020)

Ex Machina is a 2014 science fiction/psychological thriller film written and directed by Alex Garland and staring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac. A young programmer gets a chance to become part of a uniquely strange scientific experiment where he researches a unique artificial intelligence, a robotic female.
On a $15 million budget, Ex Machina only grossed $36.90 million at the global box office, however it quickly became a fan favourite for its unique plot and interesting cinematography. Ex Machina went on to win 71 awards in total out of a possible 156 including one academy award for best visuals and was recognised by The National Board of Review as being one of the ten best independent films of the year as well as having a score of 92% in Rotten Tomato's.
Ex Machina is a stunning directorial debut for Alex Garland and is a film based on intellect and the value of AI intelligence. Each performance is captivating, Alicia Vikander and Domhnall Gleeson play their role perfectly and adds to the sense of realism that this film conveys however Oscar Isaac is fantastic and puts in a stellar performance as Nathan that both unsettled you and intrigues you which makes you want to delve deeper into his character and background.
This movie strives to be an intellectual thought provoking masterpiece and it achieves it, it is obviously allegorical, a fascinating tale about AI, but it is mainly about manipulations that man can convey and the power humans have over the experience of life. Each themes convey interesting philosophical approach for the audiences to think about, however, can ultimately be too much for some of the audiences at it demands your full attention throughout and engages your brain to think about the impact of what we can create and ultimately how humans desire to create life and become their own God.
For me viewing this film for the first time, I loved it, its a unique approach to the AI genre, it intrigued me every step of the way and has aged like fine wine over the last few years with it easily feeling like it could have been released last year. Each performance is incredible, its far from a perfect movie with a few tiny flaws that are barley recognisable. Ex Machina avoids the trap of becoming too technical. The storyline is straightforward but still compacts all of the scientific information that is needed in a film like this.
Ultimately Alex Garlands directorial debut was a hit with its audiences and critics, I liked it, its slow build up allowed information to be conveyed that would have been missed if the story was a faster pace, Ex Machina is a great film if you want to delve deeper into the possibilities of AI and leaves you satisfied with its conclusion. This was a fascinating watch but yet feels like it had something holding it back.
Ex Machina ultimately treats it's audience with respect as intellectuals and doesn't dumb down subject matter which leaves room for the story to delve deeper into the mind of the emotions that a human can convey for an AI. This is a great Sci-Fi film that adds to the genre and makes you want to revisit is again and again.
Ex Machina is an exciting, shocking, manipulative, frightening and visceral film that deserves to be experienced with different mindsets.