09. Ex Machina

Director: Alex Garland

Release date: May 7, 2015

From the moment lowly computer programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives at the remote and sterile mansion of his company’s prodigal CEO Nathan, there is a sense of simmering unease in Ex Machina.

The source of the tension is difficult for the viewer to put their finger on and this is one of first-time director Alex Garland’s major achievements with this impressive piece of science fiction. Caleb is asked by Nathan to apply the Turing test (yes, the same Turing from The Imitation Game) to AI android Ava, a method of determining whether her behaviour can be objectively differentiated from a human. Ava is physically beautiful, custom-built by Nathan to be beguiling.

Ex Machina has been crafted with a deft hand by The Beach novelist Garland. He has a track record for intelligent science fiction, having written the screenplays for Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and Sunshine. Here he proves himself worthy of the director’s chair, using tense pacing and a magician’s sleight of hand to keep the audience guessing until the chilling finale.

Married in a double feature with Spike Jonze’s Her, Ex Machina proves a dark counter weight as an exploration of the perils of our inevitable future with artificial intelligence.