The pronunciation of "Ex Machina" may not be obvious, but not much about this movie is.

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2015)

Let me help you out, so you don't make the same mistake I did. If you go to the theater to see "Ex Machina" (R, 1:48), make sure you know how to pronounce the title correctly (if you don't already know), so you don't have to suffer the indignity of the guy in the box office correcting you as he prints out your ticket. It's especially embarrassing if you're going to see the film not just as a movie fan, but as a reviewer. It's enough to make you thankful that you're writing your reviews incognito. And speaking of words with Latin origins, this movie's title comes from the Latin phrase "deus ex machina". The last word of that phrase, and of this movie's title, is pronounced "MAHK-ee-nah". (Apparently, "mah-SHEE-nah" is incorrect.) "Deus ex machina", by the way, means "god from the machine". No matter how you say it, that makes "Ex Machina" a good title for this movie. But is this a good movie? In "Ex Machina", Oscar Isaac is playing the role of God. Well, not literally, but he might as well be. As Nathan Bateman, the fictional "Bluebook" internet search engine CEO, he's rich, reclusive and brilliant. But those are all understatements. That's like saying Bill Gates is "well off", the Unabomber "enjoyed his own company" and Albert Einstein had "some pretty good ideas". Not only did Nathan develop the algorithm for what became the world's foremost search engine at 13 years old, build an extremely isolated and high-tech home – slash – research facility where he lives and works alone, but he has also developed the world's first true artificial intelligence, or so he hopes. He has brought Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), one of his company's most talented coders and most intelligent employees, to his live-in lab for a week to test "Ava" (Alicia Vikander), the robot who can supposedly think - and feel. After making Caleb sign an all-encompassing non-disclosure agreement, Nathan says that Caleb is about to witness the most important scientific achievement in the history of mankind. Mankind? Caleb counters that true A.I. is more in the realm of gods. Nathan likes and enthusiastically embraces the comparison.
Nathan's "tests" involve daily conversations between Caleb and Ava... for starters. Ava does look very human in part(s). She has a realistic-looking face, hands and feet. The rest of her is stylized robotics, but pretty voluptuous robotics at that. (After all, they do say that REAL women robots have curves, and we do see a fair amount of female robot curves – and skin.) In their first meeting, Caleb is shocked to discover that Ava's conversational skills are even more realistic than her very expressive face. Their daily meetings alternate with debriefings between Caleb and Nathan about how the tests are going, along with discussions of the implications of Ava's existence. Caleb and Ava's talks go well beyond simple Q&As and intellectual probing. During their increasingly personal conversations, it also seems that Ava is flirting – and Caleb is responding. And during Caleb and Nathan's alcohol-fueled discussions, Caleb increasingly wonders about Nathan's true motivations for these tests and his plans for the future. Nathan is looking more and more like a master manipulator and one with more than a few secrets.
More than just the latest in a long line of films about artificial intelligence, "Ex Machina" is fresh and exciting. The action, with only three main characters seemingly embarking on a strange new world, does give a sense of the beginning of something monumentally important and may remind audience members of the biblical account of creation, or the creation of Frankenstein's monster, or any of a number of similar stories. The staging evokes a certain moodiness and the dialog is ominous, deep and even profound. This film doesn't have the action of the similarly-themed "Terminator" movies, but its focus on the subtle, but meaningful, makes it well worth your time. The cast really sells the story, with another great and unsettling performance from the increasingly impressive Oscar Isaac, a wide-ranging, but measured performance from Domhnall Gleeson (who also does a great job of shedding his British accent), not to mention a very effective Alicia Vikander. This is the first film by British novelist – turned screenwriter – turned director Alex Garland, but let's hope it's not his last. This film does suffer from a few noticeable plot holes and a couple instances of predictability, but it's still a stylistically provocative and intellectually interesting tale – with a heck of an ending. "B+"