Directed and Written by: Alex (you got some problems buddy) Garland
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson,Oscar Isaac
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Aside from the fact it was boring as hell (the 2 glasses of wine I had beforehand did not liven things up), the plot, I gathered, was that women were machines. There were no male machines. And yes, spoiler alert, Ava, the woman machine won. But not after taking bits and pieces from all the other women machines.
The film left me wondering what the writer thought of women. I very rarely react like this to films, but it seemed to me that the writer really had issues. The plot was basically: I am a woman. I will manipulate you to escape. I will steal from other women. Then, and only then, can I be free. There is no twist. No thought provoking moment. Ex Machina is a cold and calculating film.
I’m not one for cheese, but this film really didn’t resonate, even on a techie level. The philosophy of manipulate and take didn’t ring true to me. Yes, I guess that’s what machines with AI may be in the future but what does that say about women? About what men think of women? It’s a dog eat dog world out there… I guess…?
Look, I’ll say the machines looked realistic. The acting, well, the most rounded character was Nathan, the creator who used the machines in the first place. Caleb, the character who came to assist Nathan, didn’t show any humanity at all. At one point I thought he was going to turn out to be the male machine! That would have been a twist! But no…
I liked Nathan because at least he drank, and would exercise to work the alcohol off. I can relate to that. But the relationship between man and machine was never really clarified. The machines won by reflecting who they imagine women to be. Leaving the men behind and the other machines smiling as pieces are taken from them for the greater good of the machine, Ava. I found this to be shallow, cold and calculating. I’m guessing the premise was to relate to the AI and it didn’t happen for me. Therefore, I felt no joy when the machine succeeded. And how is the machine going to survive without maintenance? By killing the creator, how does the machine survive? I found there were a lot of unanswered questions for a SciFi.
As I said: dog eat dog ‘til the battery (or booze) runs out!