The Turing Test

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2014)

Alan Turing, Mathematician, Logician, Wartime Codebreaker and father of Computer Science. A great British Hero. A great hero in the fight against prejudice.
This film tackles themes of prejudice against the feminine, against homosexuality and more generally against anyone who is different. How? By simply pointing out, using the example of Alan Turing and his colossal achievements, that it takes someone different to do something amazing.
And an amazing story it is, packaged in a beautifully tight screenplay without a wasted scene, that keeps the audience fully engaged throughout. All the cast are on top form, in orbit around a stellar performance by Benedict Cumberbatch that layers humour, complexity, sexuality and the palpable frustration of a brilliant mind not quite able to communicate with his fellow humans.
A film that depicts a man who perhaps fails the test he invented, that is now named after him. The Turing Test. Can he fool you that he is a real human being and not a super intelligent machine? The stress of playing that Imitation Game is set into every micro twitch of the central character.
Should you go see it? No special effects. No interstellar spaceships. Why not wait for the download?
Go see it! Because otherwise you would be missing the chance to see a most remarkable film, performed to perfection. A film about a story that matters, about events that changed history and simply about a man without whom you might not even be able to read this review on your Turing machine.