Ex Machina

“Ex Machina” is more than just a great, twisty thriller. It’s a living moral dilemma, a film whose characters are so well-drawn, whose plot is so captivating it will generate endless discussions. This is the kind of picture you want to see every time you hear the words “science fiction”.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is selected to test a new artificial intelligence by billionaire software genius Nathan (Oscar Isaac)."Ava" (Alicia Vikander) is just about finished and Caleb needs help determining if she is truly self-aware and capable of human emotion, or if her program needs to be touched up. But things aren't what they seem. With each session, Caleb begins wondering who exactly is being tested.

“Ex Machina” isn’t a horror movie, but it terrifies. It’s like an invitation to a party from a shady acquaintance who is really into big game hunting. Everything is cool, you’re having a good time. Suddenly, someone slips you a note that says “the host of this party is planning on killing you”. Wait, what? Did they invite me here for that? It's obviously a joke but what do you do now? Bring the note to the host so you can all have a good laugh? Ask the other guests if they've heard anything? What if they've all received the same kind of note? What if they haven't?

This film messes with your mind and makes you paranoid. Soon, everyone will seem like a suspect. You'll doubt everything, except for the fact that Ava is a robot. Your perspectives on the characters and situation keep changing. The way Caleb is asked to test Ava doesn’t make any sense. Could it be the robot's creator is off his rocker and doesn’t realize what he’s asking? What if he’s deliberately acting like he’s an egotistical megalomaniac as part of the experiment? Everything in “Ex Machina” feels deliberate. Every detail demands to be examined. Ava is made to look like a woman. What does that say about Nathan that he's made a "woman"; a woman trapped inside a building with two other men, one of which is essentially her father? You've got to know if your hunch is right.

Much of “Ex Machina” is dedicated to the moral implications surrounding the creation of artificial intelligence. Writer/director Alex Garland asks big questions you're eager to answer. The film is so many things it sucks you right in and compels you to return to it. You forget that you’re watching a movie. At the same time, you can’t ignore some of the technical aspects. The way the camera frames Caleb, the way that Ava always looks like a tiger, circling him while they’re talking. The information that’s deliberately given to our protagonist, the pieces he discovers for himself. It's all building to something big.

Initially, I didn’t understand why “Ex Machina” won the Academy Award for best special effects. Now I get it. In “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” we know they didn’t blow all of those things up for real, that some of the action-packed scenes had to be composited or created from CGI elements. In this film, you don’t even realize that there are special effects. When you do, you have no idea how it was done.

“Ex Machina” is impeccably crafted. It’s so good at sowing uncertainty I know at least one person who insisted the film's villain was the hero! This instantly cements itself as a film you'll return to over and over and will always reveal some new detail that changes everything with each viewing. (On Blu-ray, March 25, 2016)