Ex Machina Movie Review

Ex Machina is a beautifully crafted, subtle and mesmerizing sci-fi gem. Where recent sci-fi films like Transcendence, The Signal and The Machine went wrong, director Alex Garland got everything right. The plot follows young computer programmer Caleb, who is asked by his eccentric boss Nathan (a billionaire search engine CEO) to join him at his country retreat to perform some tests on, Ava, the revolutionary A.I. that he has recently created.

The music and cinematography are sensational. Ava is introduced during a beautifully subtle scene in which I was expecting to hear the words: "I'm Rachael..Deckard". I can't help but draw comparisons between the narrative of Ex Machina and Blade Runner. It's like Ava is Rachael, Caleb is Deckard, and Nathan is Dr Tyrell (If Dr Tyrell was an alcoholic mad man.) Ex Machina also asks the same fundamental questions that Blade Runner does: what makes us human, and will A.I. be a good or bad thing for mankind etc.

The production design was spot on. All the sets looked very convincing and the CGI on Ava looked amazing. I thought the plot twists were delivered well enough (if a little predictable); and not that I didn't like it, but the ending came as a bit of a surprise. Having produced some classics of sci-fi and horror in the past, Alex Garland's transition into the directors chair has been a seamless one. Ex Machina is the best indie sci-fi I've seen since Duncan Jones' Moon (2009), and would easily make my top twenty greatest sci-fi films of all-time. I look forward to seeing more from Alex Garland in the future.

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