Ex Machina
2014, 108 minutes, Digital, R
UK
Language: English
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac
Distributor: A24
Expert Guests:
Dr. Veit Stuphorn, Associate Professor, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Gregory Hager, Mandell Bellmore Professor of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University
Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, Ex Machina. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test—charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined.
AWARDS
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects