Sex, Violence and Artificial Intelligence

Ex Machina is one of the year’s best films, an instant sci-fi classic! 

---

Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later and Sunshine) makes his directorial debut in Ex Machina and recreates life for the A.I genre. Garland’s Ex Machina is one of the smartest and most engaging sci-fi films to come along in the last decade. And the less you know about this thought-provoking mind-bender, the better. Ex Machina works heavier on ideas and less on special effects, which engages its audience to think. This visually polished piece of work will keep audience on the edge of their seats until the end. 

Caleb Smith (an incredible Domhnall Gleeson) is a coder who wins a competition to spend a week with his reclusive but isolated boss, Nathan Bateman (a workaholic Oscar Isaac). Isaac strips down to the core of his character in this film by shaving his head, growing a beard and binge drinking. Nathan is an Internet genius and alcoholic who’s trying to get his latest A.I. program off the books, which is where Caleb comes in. Caleb is the human component for the “Turing Test” to evaluate the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of an A.I. named Ava (a breathtaking Alicia Vikander). 

Ava’s emotional intelligence proves to be more sophisticated, as she is seductive, for the two men to handle. Sexuality, deception and booze play a key role in this dazzling sci-fi extravaganza as we see Caleb develop feelings for Ava, while Nathan becomes for ruthless in his attempt to play God. The title reflects the Latin phrase deus ex machina, which refers to the idea of man playing God. Hint: is Nathan getting lost within his own creation? Garland’s main focus of this film is about his characters and their moral disposition of humanity. Garland also throws hard questions at his audience like: what defines humanity? Is playing God morally sound for the good of mankind? And can consciousness be independent from the brain’s functionality?

Garland plants grand ideas throughout the film and leaves the audience in a daze of what to make of them. Like a rat in a cage, the film takes its viewers down different twist and turns they weren’t expecting. Ex Machina is a complex maze of mirrors that will keep you guessing and intrigued up until the end. This riveting sci-fi film is one of the best to come of 2015 thus far and is an intelligent leap forward for the A.I. genre. Garland’s tour de force will spring in the shock and awe from viewers, as they take a deeper look at sex, violence and artificial Intelligence. 

Ex Machina is rated R (Restricted). For graphic nudity, language, sexual references and some violence.