A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
A young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.
Director:
Jordan Peele
Stars:
Daniel Kaluuya,
Allison Williams,
Bradley Whitford
Caleb, a 26 year old programmer at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.Written by
DNA FILMS
The song to which Nathan and Kyoko are dancing is "Get Down Saturday Night" by Oliver Cheatham. See more »
Goofs
Caleb had already reprogrammed the security protocols when Nathan was drunk. Thus he did not need to get him drunk again on the day of Ava's escape, and Ava could have escaped earlier during the penultimate power cut. Caleb still needed Nathan to get drunk so that he and Ava could actually escape unseen, otherwise Nathan could still have prevented them from escaping somehow. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Caleb:
How long until we get to his estate?
Pilot:
[laughs]
We've been flying over his estate for the past 2 hours.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The end credits starts with a single dot in the background which then grows and various patterns emerge from it. See more »
Alternate Versions
The alternatively censored cut released in China featured frequent blurs of nudity and, on occasion, violence. One scene towards the end also seemed to be zoomed for no apparent reason. See more »
Unaccompanied Cello Suite #1 in G Major BWV 1007 - Préludé
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Performed by Yo-Yo Ma
Courtesy of Sony Masterworks See more »
"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson)
Ex Machina is a thoughtful science fiction about Artificial Intelligence, whereby, to no fan's surprise, the current female robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), has human qualities that cause trouble for inventor, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), and visitor, young Caleb. If you know anything about these stories, you could write the screenplay, but you'd need these actors to make it the impressive sci-fi it is.
Poets and philosophers have been intrigued by just this story about AI gone astray after interacting with humans. The Frankenstein motif is alive and dangerous, and the spirit of Spike Jonze's Her, with the seductive operating system, is very much a part of Ava's approach to Caleb. The destructive force of Nathan's creation is more subtle than in Dr. Frankenstein's creation, but menacing nevertheless: "Isn't it strange, to create something that hates you?" Ava to Nathan
Brainy Nathan has a compound somewhere in an Alaskan refuge as modern as could be with ID cards and glass walls and doors to give the impression of peace and transparency. Caleb is chosen to help Nathan use the Turing Test to judge the quality of the AI-human experience.
As in real life, nothing is as it appears because neither Nathan nor Ava can refrain from lying. Yet, even Caleb is drawn into lies as he gets closer, even romantically, yikes! to Ava. Once again for science fiction, as soon as the robot gets to enjoy being like a human, trouble ensues. However, even if this film seems like a retread, say, of Never Let Me Go, very few filmmakers could match the ultra modern, yet still sexy, set design. And Isaac's character is so mercurial, at once comforting then tyrannical, that the film could be remembered if only for his star turn as the mad but charming scientist.
After all, Ex Machina is as much about a scientist playing God as it is about the bridge between robot and man. Each topic could, and has been, treated on its own. Here it is an exciting return to modern man as god and monster:
"I am God." Nathan
22 of 37 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson)
Ex Machina is a thoughtful science fiction about Artificial Intelligence, whereby, to no fan's surprise, the current female robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), has human qualities that cause trouble for inventor, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), and visitor, young Caleb. If you know anything about these stories, you could write the screenplay, but you'd need these actors to make it the impressive sci-fi it is.
Poets and philosophers have been intrigued by just this story about AI gone astray after interacting with humans. The Frankenstein motif is alive and dangerous, and the spirit of Spike Jonze's Her, with the seductive operating system, is very much a part of Ava's approach to Caleb. The destructive force of Nathan's creation is more subtle than in Dr. Frankenstein's creation, but menacing nevertheless: "Isn't it strange, to create something that hates you?" Ava to Nathan
Brainy Nathan has a compound somewhere in an Alaskan refuge as modern as could be with ID cards and glass walls and doors to give the impression of peace and transparency. Caleb is chosen to help Nathan use the Turing Test to judge the quality of the AI-human experience.
As in real life, nothing is as it appears because neither Nathan nor Ava can refrain from lying. Yet, even Caleb is drawn into lies as he gets closer, even romantically, yikes! to Ava. Once again for science fiction, as soon as the robot gets to enjoy being like a human, trouble ensues. However, even if this film seems like a retread, say, of Never Let Me Go, very few filmmakers could match the ultra modern, yet still sexy, set design. And Isaac's character is so mercurial, at once comforting then tyrannical, that the film could be remembered if only for his star turn as the mad but charming scientist.
After all, Ex Machina is as much about a scientist playing God as it is about the bridge between robot and man. Each topic could, and has been, treated on its own. Here it is an exciting return to modern man as god and monster:
"I am God." Nathan