Friday 4 November 2016

Ex_Machina Review



Released on the 21st January 2015, Ex_Machina is a British psychological sic-fi film by debut director Alex Garland. Caleb Smith (Domnhall Gleeson), a programmer at the large technological company BlueBook, has won a prize to meet the company's CEO Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) at his house in  Norway. Caleb seemingly suspects that this week-long visit will consist of bonding, and could result in a promotion. This takes a dramatic turn when Nathan reveals to Caleb that he is involved in testing a new AI called Ava (Alicia Vikander); built by Nathan himself. As an audience we are plunged into a dramatic story of ethics, deception and questioning: we find ourselves confused with who to trust, just as Caleb is himself. For a smaller budget film ($15million) the visual effects are incredibly impressive and, as the film progresses, they become unobservable to the audience.

I would consider Ava to be my favourite character and this is partly due to Vikander's acting talent: she succeeded in giving life to a synthetic character, whilst retaining a feeling that Ava is not quite perfect. Vikander is trained in ballet, and it is the control she has over her body that aids her in performing her role so well; the slightest of movements created a sense of innocence and intrigue - even in the way Alicia made Ava walk or tilt her head.

There is certainly a question of morals and ethics concerning the film; full frontal nudity is present throughout and it is argued that this is merely for the audience's pleasure. However, I think Garland has used this to express two things: it highlights Nathan's bullish and dominant character and, most importantly, it suggests how human these non-human robots are. Perhaps the inclusion of full nude shots is to express the moral conscience of the film; these creations shouldn't be used as effective "slaves" for simple pleasure. I found the decision to place Caleb in a viewing "box" interesting because it's reminiscent of a zoo - Ava is the tiger prowling in her enclosure and Caleb is the visitor.

Overall, I found Ex_Machina truly awesome: after finishing it, I was immediately left with questions regarding the plot and the meanings of the film. The superb twist made the film even better than it previously was and, for such a small budget film, the sound design and visual effects were mesmerising and crafted into the film effortlessly - not to mention the incredible cast.

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