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I love everything about sci-fi and speculative fiction. Outside of the inherent layers of literary depth that the genres represent, they allow artists to truly explore their imaginations, creating reality out of the thoughts and ideas that run rampant in their brains. Androids and A.I. have played large roles in films over the past few years, with everything from large blockbusters like The Avengers embracing A.I., robots, robotic armor, etc. as pivotal points in their plot to more independent films like Her where an actress can deliver an Oscar-worthy performance without ever appearing on camera (that Scarlett Johansson snub still rubs me the wrong way). Plus, there’s the inherent and widespread acceptance that robots (and cyborgs and androids) will forever be cool.
So when a film like Ex Machina begins running the press rounds, I can’t help but be drawn to it. Written and directed by 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland for his directorial debut, Ex Machina stars Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb Smith, a programmer at a tech company who wins a contest to spend a week with the world-renown CEO of his company, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). During Caleb’s stay, Nathan tasks him to be the human counterpart of a Turing Test for his latest experiment: an android named Ava (Alicia Vikander) that’s exhibiting heightened levels of intelligence and emotions. However, Ava’s intelligence is much more expansive than the two imagined as Caleb and Nathan both find themselves caught in her deceptions.
Ex Machina will be in theaters on April 10, 2015.