Well done, but . ..

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2015)

. . . somewhat derivative. Aside from some scenic views that might be from Montana's Glacier National Park, the entire film could have been a stage play. Caleb is a young Bill Gates type minus the bravado. Nathan could have been better played by Zach Galifianakis. And Ava is a female Sonny (I, Robot) with better make-up but less panache.
The Turing Test is the tiny bit of technical grounding for this story of seduction and survival. In reality, the test is really about how easily people can be fooled rather than how clever software can be. Each time the Turing test is run in the real world, they use humans as control along with software, and many of the humans are thought to be machines, too. This movie could have used such irony to create a much greater effect.
Like 'I, Robot', Ex Machina's suspension of disbelief is compromised by having Ava act and move so gracefully. If any machine could move so effortlessly, its inventor would win the Nobel Prize, even it the machine could not speak. The other compromise was the use of card keys, a technology older than every character in the film. It seemed poorly contrived.
As for the drama, there is no chemistry between Caleb and Ava, and Nathan lacks a certain edginess that Zach naturally brings to his characters. It could have brought Caleb and Ava together more convincingly.
I gave it a 7 for its premise, production qualities, and the ending, which was nicely done in spite of another suspension of disbelief compromise. Personally, it could have been awesome as a computer-animated fantasy film, a'la Beowulf 2007. Regardless, I would say that it is worth a Matinée for sure (pun intended for Unreal Tournament 2004 fans).