By Bram Medelli
The movie season of 2015 was filled with movies about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Moviegoers could enjoy Chappie, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ex Machina. Each of them with their own particular qualities. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp released yet another exciting movie about larger themes in society with his Chappie. Avengers: Age of Ultron was the highly anticipated sequel to The Avengers (2012) and one of the summer’s biggest spectacles, because Marvel’s tremendous fanbase had been awaiting the faceoff between their dear heroes and Ultron. However, both Chappie and Avengers: Age of Ultron do not focus on the AI aspect as much as Ex Machina does. The line between man and machine is barely even visible anymore in Alex Garland’s directorial debut.
In Ex Machina, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson), a 26 year old coder at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan (Oscar Isaac), 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 Turing experiment, the AI test, in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of the beautiful robot girl Ava (Alicia Vikander).
The intimate setting of the movie makes it stand out from larger-than-life summer blockbusters. Nathan’s residence is filled with mysteries. When Caleb first enters he is given a card that gives him access to all rooms that concern him, suggesting that there are things he is not supposed to see. During Caleb’s talks with Ava, mysterious power failures occur. Ava uses this opportunity to tell Caleb that Nathan is not to be trusted. This increases Caleb’s mistrust towards Nathan, but he does not stop to think about Ava’s honesty and motivations. The distrust between the three people grows like a balloon, until it pops.
Ava is arguably one of the most human depictions of AI. The biblical connotations of her name show that she is the first one of her kind. At first she clearly is a robot, as her machinery is visible. Slowly but surely, Ava’s human features start to eclipse her robotic side. She starts to wear clothes, gets a wig and becomes more feminine. Caleb clearly notices this and he develops romantic affection for Ava, which she seems to return. Nathan gets a kick out of that because it illustrates that Caleb has relinquished the fact that Ava is a robot, thus passing the Turing experiment even though he was told that Ava was built by Nathan. The great acting by Vikander also makes the audience forget about her non-humanity. Her movements become more natural as Ava develops and starts to act and look like a human as well.
What truly makes this movie stand out is its approach. The stakes in the story are not too high like in many movies these days. There is no worldwide impending doom, no murderer on the loose and no ticking clock. There are just three characters, with rising tension between them. Director Garland makes us wonder what Ava and Nathan are planning, since both of them are shrouded in mystery. Nathan is a brilliant alcoholic and Ava is a seductive robot. The viewer gets Caleb’s dilemma, who is faced with the choice of who to trust.
If you are looking for something else than the usual action packed blockbuster, Ex Machina is a good fit. It is a little different than usual, yet the movie is still enjoyable. It features a small ensemble of actors, who all did an excellent job. This movie is like a small dog with a great attitude.
Bram Medelli, Class of 2018, is an Arts & Humanities major from Groesbeek, The Netherlands.
