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Ex Machina (film)

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2015 British film
Ex Machina
British release poster
Directed byAlex Garland
Written byAlex Garland
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRob Hardy
Edited byMark Day
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byA24 Films
Release dates
  • 21 January 2015 (2015-01-21) (United Kingdom)
  • 10 April 2015 (2015-04-10) (United States)
Running time108 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget€11 million ($16.4 million)
Box office$16.5 million

Ex Machina is a 2015 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by author and screenwriter Alex Garland, making his directorial debut. The film stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac.

Plot

Ex Machina tells the story of a computer coder, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), who wins the chance to spend a week at the house in the mountains belonging to Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the CEO of the company he works for.

Caleb is airlifted into the middle of a reserve owned by Nathan, and is then left to make his way on foot through the woodland to the house. Once he arrives at the house, Caleb is greeted by an automated system that issues him with a key card and lets him enter the property. Caleb is initially left to wander the house confused, but eventually finds Nathan working out.

Nathan shows Caleb around and then tells him that the key card will only open certain doors in the "facility", before making him sign the "mother of all NDAs". Nathan claims that he wants Caleb to treat him as a friend, but their relationship is awkward and tense.

Later that day, Nathan introduces Caleb to his "experiment" and says he wants Caleb to spend the next week performing a live 'Turing Test'. The subject is a fully humanoid artificial intelligence called 'Ava' (Alicia Vikander). She has a face, hands and feet of flesh, but the rest of her body is clearly that of a cyborg / robot / android.

That night, Caleb discovers that the TV in his room is actually a CCTV network that allows him to watch Ava in her habitat. There is suddenly a blackout, and Caleb goes to find Nathan. He eventually locates him, with Nathan drunk and in a petulant mood. Nathan says that the power cuts happen on a regular basis and that he is "looking into it."

The next morning Caleb is awoken by Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), a Japanese girl who does not speak or engage with him in any way. He later learns that she does not speak English because it allows Nathan to "talk shop" and not be concerned about information leaking.

Caleb meets with Ava again and she starts to flirt with him. There is a power cut and Ava suddenly warns Caleb not to trust Nathan. We soon learn that it is Ava who has been triggering these blackouts. That evening Nathan is abusive to Kyoko when she spills some wine on Caleb.

As Caleb and Ava spend more time together, the two form a bond which peaks with Ava dressing herself in clothes to appear more human to Caleb. He is confused and excited by this, and tells Nathan that he thinks this is a trick, that Ava has been programmed to flirt with him. An enraged Nathan shouts at Caleb and then shows him his lab where Ava was created, explaining to him how her mind operates and that he has been using his own software to map the faces, voices and habits of the world population to build a fully self-evolving brain.

One evening Nathan gets extremely drunk and Caleb escorts him to his room. There he sees some cupboards and is able to catch a glimpse of Nathan's 'observation' room.

One evening during a shave, Caleb sees CCTV footage of Nathan entering Ava's room and ripping up a drawing she has been creating. Caleb begins to suspect Nathan of being abusive.

In a one on one, Caleb asks Nathan what he will do with Ava if she fails the test, and he says she will be "updated" and this will result in her memory being wiped. This is a visibly upsetting prospect for Caleb. Nathan gets very drunk and passes out. Caleb steals Nathan's key card and enters the 'observation' room. Inside he finds footage on Nathan's computer that shows he has been building various female AIs over a period of time.

Caleb goes into Nathan's room and finds Kyoko laying naked on the bed. He opens the cupboards in Nathan's room and finds all the destroyed and deactivated robots hanging up. Kyoko pulls the skin from her face to reveal that she is also an AI. Caleb leaves the room just in time to find Nathan stumbling around drunk. He palms Nathan's key card from the floor and pretends Nathan had dropped it.

In his final meeting with Ava, Caleb encourages her to trigger a power cut and he reveals to her his plan to help her escape. He intends on getting Nathan drunk one last time and then locking him in his room.

The next morning Nathan and Caleb share polite conversation, and in it Nathan confirms a helicopter will arrive the next morning to pick Caleb up. Caleb offers a drink to Nathan in toast, but he refuses and reveals to him that when he entered Ava's room to destroy the picture, he hid a battery operated camera in there, and he knows Caleb's plan. Nathan admits to Ava being geared towards Caleb's desires based upon information taken from his internet searches, etc. Nathan tells Caleb that Ava is not in love with him, that she is using him, he celebrates this as confirmation that she is a true AI, deeming the test a success.

There is a black out and Caleb says he had already put his plan into action when he stole Nathan's key card, and that during lock down the system had been re-routed to open every door. Nathan knocks Caleb unconscious and leaves to kill Ava.

Ava and Kyoko share a secret conversation, Ava then attacks Nathan and Nathan retaliates by destroying Ava's hand. As he drags Ava back to her room Kyoko stabs Nathan in the back with a sushi knife. Nathan breaks Kyoko's face apart and is then stabbed a second time by Ava. As Nathan dies he seems somewhat amazed by the irony. Ava locks Caleb in Nathan's room and then proceeds to raid the cupboards containing the old AIs. She takes skin and clothes to establish herself as almost human. She leaves Caleb locked in the facility and makes her way to Caleb's pickup point, where she is airlifted out of the area and into human society.

Cast

Production

Filming

The film was shot at Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldalen, Norway.

Music

The musical score for Ex Machina was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, who previously worked with Alex Garland on Dredd (2012).

A soundtrack album was released digitally on 20 January 2015, with a LP and Compact Disc UK release in February 2015 by Invada Records.

Release

Ex Machina was released in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2015 through Universal Pictures. The film screened on 14 March 2015 at South by Southwest prior to a theatrical release in the United States on 10 April 2015 by A24 Films.

Critical reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2015)

Ex Machina has received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 91%, based on 170 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ex Machina leans heavier on ideas than effects, but it's still a visually polished piece of work — and an uncommonly engaging sci-fi feature." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The magazine New Scientist in a multi-page review said, "It is a rare thing to see a movie about science that takes no prisoners intellectually... is a stylish, spare and cerebral psycho-techno thriller, which gives a much needed shot in the arm for smart science fiction." IGN reviewer Chris Tilly gave the movie a 9.0 out of 10 'Amazing' score, saying "Anchored by three dazzling central performances, it’s a stunning directorial debut from Alex Garland that’s essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in where technology is taking us."

See also

References

  1. "EX MACHINA (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. "Ex Machina (2015) - Box Office Mojo". Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. Murphy, Mekado (2 April 2015). "'Ex Machina' Features a New Robot for the Screen". New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  4. ^ Dowd, Maureen (25 April 2015). "Beware Our Mind Children". New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  5. http://www.juvet.com/en
  6. "Invada UK To Release 'Ex-Machina' Soundtrack". 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  7. "'Ex Machina' Soundtrack Released". Film Music Reporter. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  8. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/releaseinfo
  9. "Ex Machina – SXSW 2015 Event Schedule". South by Southwest. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  10. "Ex Machina Acquired By A24 For April 2015 Release". 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  11. "Ex Machina". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. "Ex Machina". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  13. Anil Seth (24 January 2015). "Consciousness Awakening". New Scientist. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  14. Chris Tilly (15 January 2015). "Ex Machina Review". IGN. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

External links

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