Alex Garland’s debut novel ‘The Beach’ was in everyone’s hands on train journeys back in the late 90’s.
Rather than be a flash in the pan, Garland has become an accomplished screenwriter (Never Let Me Go,
Dredd, 28 Days Later), and ‘Ex_Machina’ is his first stab at writing and directing.
Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) wins an worldwide competition to spend a week with the inventor and
reclusive owner of the world’s biggest search and intelligence engine, Bluebook. Caleb finds the CEO,
Nathan (Oscar Isaac), is an odd, tetchy sort, and his blossoming relationship with Nathan’s secret
creation, the lifelike robot Ava (Alicia Vikander), puts him at odds with Nathan’s vision.
Invoking ‘2001’ (HAL) and ‘Apocalypse Now’ (things can only end badly), ‘Ex_Machina’ is a cracking movie,
full of where our obsession with gadgets might be going, mixed with some ingenious special effects as
Vikander spends most of the movie a mixture of synthetic flesh and flashing lights. It’s an entertaing
movie that highlights the dangers of getting too attached to technolog
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