Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master ListOscar · 1
Spoiler-free premise
Programmer Caleb visits reclusive CEO Nathan's remote estate to evaluate Ava, an artificial intelligence housed in a humanoid body.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Young programmer Caleb wins a week at the isolated home of tech founder Nathan Bateman. Nathan asks him to conduct a Turing test on Ava, a humanoid artificial intelligence whose conversations, private signals, and apparent curiosity complicate the terms of the experiment.
Why it belongs
Ex Machina presents a glass-walled experiment as a meticulous contest over consciousness, desire, surveillance, authorship, and control.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Vikander, Gleeson, and Isaac continually shift who appears to be observing whom. Transparent rooms, locked doors, reflected bodies, programmed power cuts, and Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury's cool score make the estate both laboratory and trap.
