January
24
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EX_ MACHINA (15)
EX_ MACHINA (15)
Run time: 108mins
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander
Synopsis: In the mountain retreat of a gifted internet billionaire, a young man takes part in a strange experiment: testing an artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl. But the experiment twists into a dark psychological battle, where loyalties are torn between man and machine.
Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) a talented young coder at the world’s largest search engine company Bluebook wins a coveted prize – to spend a week with the reclusive company CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac) at his remote mountain retreat only to find he is to be part of a strange Turing Test with a beautiful A.I Ava (Alicia Vikander).
Ex_Machina is the directorial debut of Alex Garland the writer of The Beach (novel) 28 Days Later 2002, Sunshine 2007, Never Let Me Go 2010 and is a creepy and sensual look at a subject – androids – which have been around in cinema since Fritz Lang’s Metropolis 1927
Garland’s film – in beautiful cool cinematic tones, with beautiful surfaces and interiors from cinematographer Rob Hardy – examines many current anxieties about science and machines and whether a computer can have the thought processes of a human.
This modern science fiction tale takes much of its horror from the conversations and intense triangular relationships of the three exceptionally talented actors, who make the most of Garland’s script, which is original and extends the AI genre in a different direction.
Isaac is superb as an alpha male, control freak Frankenstein, and Vikander demonstrates her impressive range after Testament of Youth (2014) and A Royal Affair (2012)
Images courtesy of Universal Pictures
