8.8/10

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2015)

When sci-fi hits that sweet spot, it can be endlessly thought-provoking. Such is the case with the stylish, tense and terrifically acted Ex Machina, a complex drama about artificial intelligence (*** ½ out of four; rated R; opens Friday in select cities). Alex Garland, the screenwriter of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes an auspicious directorial debut with this suspenseful mystery. Oscar Isaac is deliciously off-putting as Nathan Bateman, a reclusive Internet genius and the billionaire owner of Bluebook, the world's most popular search engine. Nathan oversees his empire from a remote scenic location. He's simultaneously brilliant, charming and infuriating, with an underlying sense of ill-defined menace, even when he's being friendly. Alicia Vikander plays his robotic creation, Ava. She's at once inquisitive, knowing and innocent, and Vikander nails the part with an alliance of subtle virtues: wide eyes, understated machine-like movements and an air of inscrutability. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a good-natured programmer at Bluebook who wins an internal competition to spend a week with the big boss at HQ, which is also Nathan's sprawling home, surrounded by dramatic waterfalls and woodsy solitude. Caleb is in awe of meeting Nathan, especially in such pristine surroundings. Gleeson convincingly conveys Caleb's awkward fascination. Shortly after he arrives, however, Caleb learns he's not there to bask in nature's beauty or soak up what he can learn from his genius boss. Nathan explains that Caleb has been summoned to test the artificial intelligence of Ava, an astounding creation with a luminous human face, shiny chrome skull and artfully arranged translucent mesh-and-metal body. Caleb's assignment is to administer the "Turing Test" (developed by scientist/computer pioneer Alan Turing, who moviegoers will remember from The Imitation Game). The test determines intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. So Caleb's task is to assess Ava's level of humanity in a series of interactions. He must also decipher the unnerving eccentric behavior of his host. For a first-time director, Garland seems assured. His sharp, sparse dialogue and meticulous direction are equally compelling, and the trio of lead performances are top-notch. Vikander has a wise, but dreamy quality as a robot determined to understand humans. Gleeson is the Everyman surrogate here, the film's emotional center who may be more than the computer geek he seems. And Isaac, with his shaved head, bushy beard and predilection for mass quantities of liquor, is breathtaking in his ability to manipulate and keep Caleb — and the audience — off-guard. The film's only flaw is in a fourth, underdeveloped character, Nathan's assistant/girlfriend Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), whose arc becomes apparent too early. Striking production design adds to the film's eeriness. Nathan's custom-built home is sprawling and sleek, but sterile and claustrophobic. Even the most ordinary events in this isolated manse feel excruciatingly tense. Garland infuses the film with a Hitchcock-like sense of dread that mounts throughout, but never feels heavy-handed. An intricate, twisty, enigmatic tale, Ex Machina unfolds at just the right pace and raises profound questions about the nature of humanity, both real and fabricated.