Movie Review - Ex Machina

Ex Machina *** (out of 5) (R) OK, computer and conspiracy folk, here’s another glimpse into a potential scary future once our machines become upgraded to self-awareness. We see none of the Terminator-style mayhem here; just a quiet little peek at whether our species will create its own extinction from unintended consequences of inherent inventiveness and curiosity. Domnall Gleeson is a mid-level programmer for a supergenius Oscar Isaac’s cutting-edge tech empire. Winning an in-house lottery gets him an unprecedented invitation to his boss’ isolated, impregnable home. Once there, he learns he’s there to field-test whether the wizard’s new and gorgeous robot “Ava” (Alicia Vikander) is truly sentient, or just masterfully programmed to mimic human thought and behavior more thoroughly than all earlier attempts at Artificial Intelligence.

The tone is one of creepy suspense, as no one can be sure about what’s actually going on. Is Isaac a visionary hero or a psycho? Which character is, or should be, a threat to whom? Compared to Her, in which lonely nerd Joaquin Phoenix found cyberpal Scarlett Johansson’s disembodied persona vastly preferable to the company of flesh-and-blood alternatives, this one’s quite Hitchcockian. The honcho’s home is an ultramodern cross between fortress and laboratory in a sylvan setting. Time and space seem to flirt with reality, rather than follow it, dangling far more possibilities between lines of dialog than revealed within them, making the experience as disorienting for the viewers as for the guest of honor (?). The plot choices vary from predictable to baffling, adding to the intended sense of Gleeson’s visiting a futuristic version of Lewis Carroll’s rabbit hole.

The film shows how fuel for fears about our looming, self-inflicted obsolescence can come in all shapes, sizes and tones. Remember, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean the geeks and their machines aren’t really out to get you. (4/24/15)