SXSW Movie Review: ‘Ex Machina’

It was only a matter of time before screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) found himself stepping behind the camera, and he takes a fresh new approach to artificial intelligence with his directorial debut, the riveting sci-fi thriller Ex Machina. Unfolding almost entirely in a single location, the film finds intelligent young programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) arriving at the picturesque mountain estate of his employer, Nathan (Oscar Isaac) for a week-long stay, a reward for winning an interoffice lottery.

Nathan tells Caleb that he’s been working on something extraordinary – a new kind of artificial intelligence – and would like his assistance in testing the creation. Caleb is then introduced to Ava (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful and precocious humanoid robot with a shapely figure made of metal, wire, and circuitry. As Caleb and Ava interact, Nathan monitors everything from the home’s closed-circuit TV system, reconvening in the evenings to discuss the results of the day’s tests with his houseguest.

It would be a crime to say more about the plot of Ex Machina, and the film will be far more enjoyable with little to no foreknowledge of the events to come. Suffice to say that not everything that transpires within the house is as it seems, and that each of the three central characters may have ulterior motives for allowing events to unfold as they do. The film’s growing tension and ever-increasing sense of dread owe a lot to the work of Stanley Kubrick, David Fincher and Alfred Hitchcock, and Garland combines each of these influences into his own recipe for suspense.

I can’t think of a negative thing to say about any of the cast members, but it’s Isaac’s performance that is truly captivating. He plays Nathan as a frighteningly brilliant genius whose moods range from genial to hostile – one minute he’s cracking jokes and offering Caleb a beer, the next minute he’s getting blackout drunk or screaming at his mute housekeeper (Sonoyo Mizuno) for spilling a glass of wine. Isaac cuts a sinister and terrifying figure, and audiences should be even more excited for some of the villainous future roles he’s attached to.

Ex Machina is arguably Garland’s best work yet as a writer, simultaneously existing as a character-driven piece about the nature of consciousness and humanity, and a tightly wound thriller about manipulation and deception. It’s also beautifully shot, superbly acted and expertly paced, and may very well be the best film that 2015 has offered so far.