If machines could think and feel, would they like us?

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2015)

Stagey but engaging, Ex Machina is a like play with three characters; the brilliant young programmer Caleb, the charismatic and bullying genius Nathan, and the seductive android Ava. The movie plays out largely in just a few rooms in an underground research center. The titled chapters suggest the scenes of a theater piece. For a sci-fi film there are remarkably few special effects. The three characters are involved in a great mind game. Who's fooling whom? What are their motives? The film poses questions we may have to deal with as artificial intelligence advances: how would a newly conscious machine grow in understanding? Would it be like us? Would it like us? The film has an ominous tone throughout; you sense that whatever the ending is, it won't be a happy one.