Intelligent sci-fi suspense thriller

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2015)

Caleb (Domnhall Gleeson) is a programmer who is invited by his boss, genius whizzkid Nathan (Oscar Isaac), to his inaccessible remote super-duper hi-tech home/research centre. It turns out that Nathan has created a female robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), and wants Caleb to test-drive her Artificial Intelligence with a view to establishing whether "she" is actually self-aware and intelligent, as opposed to merely simulating this due to her programming and AI routines.
Written and directed by Alex Garland (who has both pluses and minuses in my book), this film has a lot going for it. An interesting science fiction premise acquires a suspense thriller element to its plot, and the dialogue has an air of intelligence to it rather than being mere sci-fi buzz-phrases. There are a lot of twists and turns in what is essentially a relatively straightforward three-hander set in a single location. It is a good looking film (largely due to the location, but the cinematography is pretty impressive, too), with excellent performances from the three principals and also Sonoya Mizuno as Nathan's mute Japanese maid Kyoko. The special effects with which Ava is realised are impressive: although showy, you disregard them almost immediately as the characterisation is so good.
If I have a criticism, it is that the film drags slightly in places.