Review/Critique: Ex Machina

Ex-Machina

Alex Garland

Review/Critique: As I stated in my monthly picks for August - films about "Artificial Intelligence" are incredibly overabundant today. In fact it feels like every big budget movie nowadays is either directly about AI or finds a way to work it into the greater narrative at any cost. Whether that be a main character, side character, or villain, even when the character's identity as an AI is inconsequential to the plot. I don't know who in the film industry is asking for this, it's certainly not myself or the actors, maybe it's what old people think kids are into, I don't know. Even when a film is able to avoid tagging itself as an AI movie, if it's a fantasy story it still almost always has a foreign character dealing with the theme of what it means to be human through the lens of someone who is othered. What I'm trying to get at is that, being as the theme is so oversaturated, it's incredibly difficult to present a fresh idea. This is not true for "Ex Machina" though, which takes this tired formula and manages to present an idea that is unique in a sea of robotic clones. (See what I did there)

         When I follow up by saying that I think this is the biggest strength of "Ex Machina", make no mistake that this is not a diss on the movie at all. I know being "unique" isn't always seen as a great selling point or something that can be the greatest strength of a piece of media, but in this case I really think it is and doesn't have to reflect poorly on the films quality. It certainly has a great number of strengths aside from its ability to present a great number of fresh ideas. The acting is among the best I've ever seen, especially that from Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander. The camera work is incredibly engaging, and the unsettling visual storytelling kept me constantly squirming in my seat in a movie that isn't overtly horrifying. Even among these great strengths though, I find it really important to highlight how amazing and fresh the story is. So frequently movies about AI just deal with that very overdone theme of "what it means to be human", often through the lens of a very likable non-human main character  They present this foreign character in positions for you to feel empathy for them, and this is for a really boring reason. The film maker has already decided that this character, aside from their appearance, is as sentient and "human" as you or I. In the less frequent event that the story decides that no, this character is not in fact human, they are the villain. You feel tricked or betrayed, and think "wow, they really got me"! This movie though, takes the answer away from you. It even takes the opinion away from the main characters by presenting them as very biased, unreliable third parties in the debate. It as well sprinkles around just enough evidence for any opinion you have to be roughly viable, leaving it at that - and I love it. I live for movies with debatable, open ended ideas and themes that I can discuss with people for hours on end. That is why when I say that the movie's ability to present ideas in a new and fresh way was my favorite thing about it, I'm being 100% genuine in still thinking it was a fantastic movie. The acting is amazing, the visual storytelling is perfectly creepy and unsettling, the camera work is really interesting and engaging, but the ideas it has and the ways it presents them are above all else what make the movie shine. I do want to talk to the acting a little bit though before I go, since I really do want to give the actors a fair deal of praise.

         Oscar Isaac's performance as Nathan in this movie is some of the best acting I have ever seen in my life. This movie relies heavily on a great sense of unknowing. So frequently I was going back and forth on who was the antagonist, who was the manipulator and who was the manipulated. Oscar Isaac plays so perfectly in that middle line. From the minute his character is introduced to the minute the film is over, you're never really quite sure how trustworthy he is. At times he's sympathetic, at times he's narcissistic, but most importantly, he never shows all of his cards. Some of this praise has to go to the director as well of course, but I'm unsure I've ever seen a performance that had me more unsure of a character's motives and true nature as this one. In addition to Oscar Isaac's stunning performance, Alicia Vikander completely kills it as Ava, the central AI which the movie revolves around. Similarly to Isaac's performance, you're never quite sure where she's at. As I said before, ambiguity is one of the most important themes allowing the movie to work, and Alicia has the toughest job to do. She is the character who the audience is supposed to feel ambiguous towards. If the audience is strongly swayed one way or the other, the movie has failed to present an open ended question on the legitimacy of her human tendencies. I think she did a stand up job, and deserves a mention alongside Isaac in performing so well in such a difficult role.

Recommendation: I think at the end of the day, "Ex Machina" is a pretty easy movie for me to recommend, especially in comparison to some of the movies I've seen this year. It's super unsettling yes, but not any more so than I think most people can handle. As well it's on Netflix, which makes it incredibly easy to watch if you are interested. It's definitely on the experimental side, and feels like it's the type of movie that certainly could have played at a film festival, but I also think it's fairly digestible. It's not so out there that you'd be confused at any point, and it's fresh ideas and how it manipulates them aren't hidden in any way. They're very clearly presented, and easy to engage with. Overall I would say that "Ex Machina" is a decently experimental film, that manages to be pretty broadly likable and enjoyable with enough substance to engage most anyone in a conversation. If you can handle a bit of uncanny valley creepiness and some raunchier scenes, I think you will most likely enjoy it. I understand it's the most broadly reaching "recommend" I've given yet, and think that's for good reason. It is rated R for a reason though, so maybe don't watch it with your grandma or small children.

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And that's my review of "Ex Machina"! This was one of the easiest and most enjoyable to write, either I'm getting better at writing these or this movie was as easy to discuss as I said in the review. Next up is the novel "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov.


Until then!