An original AI sci-fi film that defines itself amongst the rest and provides us with one of the best movie robots of all-time.

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2015)

When the first trailer for "Ex Machina" dropped online, I found myself getting instantly sucked into this new film due to its aesthetic, cast, and story, so I had pretty high expectations going into the film. Thankfully, I walked out very impressed.
Directed by author and screenwriter, Alex Garland (who wrote "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later"), "Ex Machina" follows a computer programmer, Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), who was chosen to stay with an online tycoon, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), for a week at his secluded house up in the mountains. There, Nathan shows Caleb what he has been working on and reveals Ava (Alicia Vikander), an robot capable of human emotions. Nathan then tasks Caleb to do a Turing test on Ava to evaluate her ability to exhibit intelligent and humanlike behavior. Through this test, Caleb soon discovers that Ava is a lot more human than he ever could have imagined, but may just be almost too human.
The intimacy of the story and focus on its characters is definitely what makes this film shine above other sci-fi films that have tackled the themes of artificial intelligence. Alicia Vikander brings so much depth, complexity and humanity to Ava, making her one of sci-fi's best movie robots ever. Her allure and impression were so different compared to other movie robots, almost as if we were as intrigued by her presence as Caleb was. Domhnall Gleeson is, as always, a natural talent and, as Caleb, guides the audience through the entire story and carries to entire weight of the film effortlessly. However, Oscar Isaac outshines everyone in the film, like he does in any other project he is involved in. Isaac has cemented himself as being one of this generation's best and made Nathan, a character that could have easily been a one-dimensional role, into a tormented, damaged and eccentric genius that we can easily understand. Having these three as, for the most part, the only people you see in the film really does amply the screenplay as they all brought their A-material to their respective roles.
Although the film focuses heavily on dialogue, themes and characters, the visual effects in the film are also very impressive for the $13 million budget they had. The CGI on Ava is done beautifully with simplicity and elegance. Most of the visual effects are very subtle and real to the point where you forget that you are seeing something that was digital removed (i.e. making Vikander's stomach completely transparent). The cinematography, done by Rob Hardy, also elevates the effects and the aesthetic of the film. The film looks gorgeous. Every shot is dripping with atmosphere and style, keeping many of the shots, like the film itself, close and intimate.
Overall, "Ex Machina" is a very good film. I have very minor issues with the pacing of the 2nd Act and the soundtrack, which is for the most part good but included some tracks that I thought were unnecessary or unoriginal, but these two gripes did not detract from the film's plot and characters to the point where I could say they pulled me out of the experience. This was a well shot, well acted, well scripted, and well directed film that will leave you asking many questions about yourself and humankind as a species. Definitely go see the film when you get the chance.