Ex Machina Review

The Turing test is an experiment to challenge a machine's ability to show intelligence that is similar to a human and see if the human testing the computer think it is a human or not. This investigation is the main part of Ex Machina, a film in which Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is invited to participate in such an experiment to test an A.I made by CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac).
Caleb is a brilliant coder working for Bluebook, the world's most popular search engine. He wins a competition to spend a week with the company's owner Nathan, a genius who retreated to an Alaskan estate and has barely been heard from since. Nathan is shown to like exercising and drinking when Caleb arrives but his true obsession is to create the world's first artificial intelligence. Nathan greets the competition winner with sweating intensity and tells Caleb not to be freaked out by the strangeness of the situation and suggest they act like old friends. Nathan tells Caleb that he will be at the centre of "the greatest scientific event of all-time" and if he doesn't sign the form that he was given then he will regret it for the rest of his life. Persuaded, Caleb signs the document and is given a tour of the premises which isn't a house but a research facility. And on discovering that his pass can only open some doors but not others it suddenly seems less like a research facility and more like a prison.
Caleb ignores the fact that the facility might actually be prison and focuses on the job in hand; the Turing test. When he first lays eyes on Ava, the A.I, she takes his breath away. Played by Alicia Vikander, Nathan makes Ava look like the perfect artificial intelligence with her body in human shape but with much of its mechanics exposed, her face a depiction of femininity. A series of 'sessions' follow between Caleb and Ava, the pair interacting and asking each other questions as Nathan sits in isolation elsewhere, observing the two on many screens. At the end of each sitting Nathan asks Caleb what he thinks of her and how she is doing in the test. Nathan is obviously testing a lot more that Alan Turing's theory, but we are unaware of his intentions as Caleb is when it comes to knowing his true purpose.
As the sessions progress, proceedings take a dark turn as all three characters use lies and manipulation as a means to achieve the very different ends they are after; the challenging sci-fi slowly morphing into thriller. The three actors play their roles very well in question (as well as its one intriguing non-speaking star Kyoko), Oscar Isaac builds up his charm and charisma to good use as Nathan. Isaac achieves making Nathan both likeable and terrifying. Domhnall Gleeson fills the character Caleb with an innocence and vulnerability which makes it easy for people to manipulate and use him for others' gain. Gleeson fills Caleb with a decency and morality that makes the audience love him. Alicia Vikander has an outstanding performance playing Ava, giving the character a strange quality that catches the eyes of the audience. She puts her training as a ballerina to good use through both Ava’s stillness and the manner in which she moves, the visual effects work is remarkable as you almost forget she is human playing a machine.
To conclude, I give this remarkably-put-together film an 8/10 because the visual effects are outstanding and the characters are played amazingly. However, the only fault I would depict is the ending. Although some people might like the type of ending that is given, I for one don't like cliff hangers and like to know exactly what happened without leaving the film with a lot of questions. Alex Garland has produced an astonishing film with astounding performances of the characters, this film would be god for anyone interested in sci-fi/ thriller films and are curious to know where technology is taking us.