SIMPLE REVIEW: Ex Machina (SPOILER FREE)

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a fresh film review and today I’ll be talking about Ex Machina. This is a film I only found out about around a month ago because of the posters showing at my local cinema, but it was after I saw the trailer and heard Oscar Issac was in the film when my interest got raised. Recently there’s been a lot of praise about this film, is it warranted? Well read on and find out in this condensed review!

The story for this film can be described as the following:

“A young programmer is selected to participate in a breakthrough experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a breathtaking female A.I.”

This is a thriller mixed in with science fiction and it is a wonderfully done in a story that is familiar, yet unique, intriguing and unsettling. What I loved was the fact that from the beginning  there was something in the air that felt off. There was a creepy atmosphere with great deal of tension and suspense. The film gets you to look at every detail and consider the possibility from the perspective of each of the characters and then it becomes a game to find out who is telling the truth and who is full of shit. As the film progresses and certain aspects come to light things get very dark, disturbing and different very quickly, and while I suspected some of the story elements that came to pass, there were certainly unexpected aspects that I did not see coming which was great. For all its dark elements they are moments of humour and there is one sequence which was one of the best things I have experienced in any film in a while.

When it comes to the cast they are all incredible. Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb is awesome as this young man who comes into interaction with Nathan and Ava and has a life-changing experience getting to know them. Caleb is bright and intelligent, but is also fascinated by Ava and questions what Nathan’s intentions are. Gleeson is an actor I’ve grown to like since his days in Harry Potter and here is so calm, cool and dramatic. Oscar Isaac as Nathan what a great performance. Nathan is a man with ambition, he’s smart, confident and charming, however he is also uncompromising and mysterious. Isaac delivers what could be his best performance to date, he goes from being laid back to funny to intimidating and everything in between and he handles the role with such charisma that he is hard to take your eyes off of him. Alicia Vikander as Ava is fabulous, Ava is the AI created by Nathan and stays within a specific area of his house. She’s super smart, but is also curious about the outside world and gaining human interaction. Vikander is incredible, she walks the line perfectly between being robotic and being human, whether it be the way she talks or walks has just enough humanity to be realistic.

In addition to that the presentation was lovely. Visually the film was beautiful with a good use of colour, great shots of the outdoors and the CGI was very stylish and realistic. And the soundtrack by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow is cool and adds the atmospheric and creepy nature of the film.

In the end Ex Machina is a smart, chilling and well-executed and it is one of my favourite films in recent history to deal with artificial intelligence and how it interacts with humans. I highly recommend this film, the story is great and the performances from the three main cast members is brilliant.

Rating: 8.5/10

So have you seen Ex Machina and if so what do you think of it?  Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see you on the next review yo! 😀