Phil Lord

Ex Machina Review
Ex_Machina is a cult film directed and written by Alex Garland that was released in the United
Kingdom on the 21st January 2015. It had a small cast of experienced and talented actors and
actresses, including Alicia Vikander as the AI character Ava, Dohmnall Gleeson as the character Caleb
Smith, Oscar Isaac as Nathan Bateman, and Sonoya Mizuno as Kyoko. These actors and actresses
have performed in many previous successful productions, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(2015), Jason Bourne (2016), Frank (2014) and Drive (2011). Due to the extensive success of these
films, it was suggested that Ex_Machina will contain impressive acting performances from each
character; this suggestion was very much correct as each member of the cast performed
outstandingly and presented a perfect portrayal of their character.
The film portrays the story of a programmer, Caleb Smith, who is invited to spend a week in a luxury
research facility with Nathan Bateman, the CEO of software company Blue Book. Caleb has been
invited there to perform an advanced version of the Turing test on Nathans most recent creation,
an AI called Ava. The two are trying to discover whether Nathan has invented synthetic intelligence
that is capable of thought and consciousness. However, the week does not go according to plan due
to Avas manipulative ways and advanced intellect.
The crew involved with Ex_Machina was incredibly experienced, consisting of highly rated people.
The film was produced by talented producers Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich, who are also
responsible for the production of other successful films, such as Dredd (2012) and 28 Weeks Later
(2007). Due to the how well-received these films were, it was suggested that Ex_Machinas storyline
would be thoroughly planned; this can clearly be seen as there are no flaws in the films story and it
consistently makes everything clear to the audience to avoid confusion.
The story and script for Ex_Machina was written by Alex Garland, the director of the film. As Garland
both created the script and directed this film, he was able to present the story perfectly; this
suggested that the story would be flawlessly presented and exactly what it was intended to be. This
suggestion was incredibly accurate as the story behind Ex_Machina was amazing and exceedingly
well-made; it portrayed a completely original and realistically-styled science-fiction masterpiece that
could contain events that occur in the near future in real life. The idea of this story is a binary
opposite of most other science-fiction films, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) as it is
presented to be more niche and less action-packed than modern blockbusters.
The visual effects (VFX) in Ex_Machina were created by British visual effects artist, Andrew
Whitehurst. Whitehurst is extremely experienced in computer generated imagery (CGI) and creating
special effects in films. He is best known for his works in Troy (2004), Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Due to the immense success
of these films and the well-renowned special effects they contain, it was suggested that Ex_Machina
would use visual effects that are equally advanced and well-made. This suggestion was correct as
exceedingly advanced computer generated imagery was well utilised to create the artificial
intelligence character, Ava; these visual effects were incredibly well made, they fit the theme and
genre of the film perfectly, and no graphical errors can be seen at any point. An exemplary example
of the use of visual effects in this film is the scene that shows Ava as she dresses herself. The CGI in
this scene proved difficult to create as the inner fabrics of the clothing were required to be seen
through her translucent body parts; this task would require Whitehurst to create many different
textures before formatting them perfectly onto Ava and her clothes to make them seem realistic.

Phil Lord
The sound design in Ex_Machina was created by a crew of talented and well renowned sound artists
and editors to create the atmosphere throughout the film. Non-diegetic sound and music was used
to present the mood of each scene and how each of the characters feel depending on what is
occurring. A key use of non-diegetic sound and music was in the scenes containing the artificial
intelligence character, Ava, to present how she is feeling and what she is thinking; this suggests to
the audience that she does have emotions and that she is capable of having feelings and opinions
towards the other characters. An incredible example of this is when Caleb states to Ava that his
parents are dead; at this point, organic sounding non-diegetic music is used to present how Ava is
feeling a sense of sadness.
As Ex_Machina portrays the possible near future by exploring the scientific invention of artificial
intelligence and how humans will attempt to create consciousness through the use of machines and
technology. Due to this film exploring these aspects, many moral and ethical views and statements
are questioned throughout, one of these questions is whether we should attempt to create artificial
consciousness. On this subject, Caleb stated that its not the history of man. Thats the history of
gods; by this he means that creating a conscious machine would be seen as playing god or going
against nature as humans were not created with the power to artificially produce life. Ex_Machina
also summons the moral question of whether man should decide what do with any living
consciousness whether we created it or not. On this subject, Caleb stated that what happens to Ava
after the tests is not up to me, to which Ava rather dramatically replied Why should it be up to
anyone?; this quotation stated by the artificial intelligence directly questions why anybody should
have enough power to be able to decide what happens to another living thing. It questions that, if
slavery and ownership over people or any other animals is not accepted, why should it be accepted
with artificial consciousness when they are also living things? The future of artificial intelligence and
consciousness could be affected by the moral and ethical problems that are raised in Ex_Machina
due to how realistic they seem and how probable their occurrence actually is.
Personally, I very much enjoyed watching the film Ex_Machina and it has definitely found its way
into my favourite films of all time. This is because it explores many futuristic and technological
aspects that, due to my understanding of this subject, I was able to follow the entire way through.
Also, I really enjoyed the toned-down science-fiction genre of this film as oppose to high budget
blockbusters such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens; the use of this style made the film seem more
realistic, positioning the audience to suggest that the creation of artificial intelligent and
consciousness could occur in the near future. I also found the cliff-hanger style open ending to the
film that left the audience questioning whether Caleb escapes and what Ava will go onto do now
that she is free; this type ending is very controversial as some people would prefer a happy ending
that provides them with closure, leaving them feeling good about the film they have just watched.
However, I prefer this style of ending as it leaves me questioning several things, therefore making
me think about the film for a much longer amount of time than those that have clean endings. This
ending also gives the film a stronger sense of realism as, in real life, not everything ends happily and
clearly; this is the main reason why I personally prefer this ending.
Due to how well every aspect of this film has been done and due to the originality of this amazing
story, I would most definitely recommend Ex_Machina to people that are interested in the
technological aspects included, that enjoy this style of film, and that are teenagers or young adults.
4.5/5