Ex Machina
Yes, it’s a quote of a quote of a quote, but it’s the best way to talk about Ex Machina. The British sci-fi/thriller film is about a programmer named Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) who is chosen by genius billionaire, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), to be the human component in a Turing test for Nathan’s artificial intelligence creation, Ava (Alicia Vikander). The ensuring plot concentrates on the interactions and motives among the three characters, exuding a fascinating stench that not only keeps the audience enthralled but also thinking. But despite how captivated I was at the theaters, Ex Machina becomes less and less impressive the more I actually think about it. It’s an unfortunate situation for such a promising film.
The entire production is visually stunning, despite its limited settings, which sort of makes up for the defective parts. I was never bored by what was shown on the screen, and the dialogue and music helped too. The exchanges between Caleb and Nathan were smart, and I learned some interesting stuff about AI listening to their conversations. But more importantly, none of the spoken words seemed forced or written in a way to solely carry the plot. As for the music, there was a constant drumming in the background that added to the suspense, which I liked, but may have been overdone. As a directorial debut, I’d say Alex Garland should be proud of the direction he took his movie in.
The actors should also be proud of their performances. Domhnall Gleeson as a 26-year-old programmer actually reminded me of a 26-year-old programmer I know; both are intelligent but extremely naive. And Oscar Isaac plays a convincing alcoholic genius. He was commanding in his character and succeeded in making me feel a little sorry for Nathan. Nathan and Caleb’s relationship is strange and predictable—since it’s the product between two humans. That makes each of their relationships with Ava unpredictable. Although she is an AI, she is given a gender, which creates different reactions from the two men (as one is like her father and the other acts as her suitor). Alicia Vikander pulls off the two acts perfectly, and she does it as a robot, which gives the film one of its creepy natures. (The other involves sexual perversion.) Her fluid yet mechanical movements, along with her ability to express and conceal certain emotions will possibly earn her some awards. So does Ava pass the Turing test (which is essentially a test to see if a machine exhibits intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from that of a human)?
Before all that I want to talk about why Ex Machina is only an above average viewing experience. Well, like with many sci-fi flicks, it’s because of the plot holes. After the credits started to roll, I started to think about the plot. And the more I thought, the more holes I could think of. I can’t reveal any of them without spoiling the movie, so you’re going to have to just take my word for it until you watch it yourself. I mentioned earlier that the dialogue doesn’t carry the plot in a contrived way, but some of the actions do.
I also thought about the title and what it meant. Now, I found that the title of the film is derived from the phrase “deus ex machina” which literally means “god from the machine.” On screen, Nathan mistakes Caleb’s words of praise and thinks himself a god. But I guess by the phrase he is right: Nathan from the Ava—god from the machine. Which is why the quote up top is the most fitting for the film. The quote, originally from the Hindu scripture (Bhagavad Gita), is used by J. Robert Oppenheimer when commenting on the first artificial nuclear explosion. If Ava passes the Turing test, Nathan will have not only become a god of sorts but also Death. We’ve all seen the apocalyptic sci-fi’s with robots ruling the world, and Ava would be the start of it all. That’s probably what Garland wanted us to think about.
So, does Ava pass the Turing test? I think the question we should be asking is does Ex Machinapass the Bechdel test? The Bechdel test determines if a movie suffers from gender inequality. So Ex Machina passes the Bechdel test if 1. it has at least two women in it; 2. who talk to each other; 3. about something besides a man. 1. yes; 2. sort of; 3. and no.