FLIRTING WITH REALITY
‘Ex Machina’ twists and turns artificial intelligence to create suspense
Wealthy computer genius Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) recognizes the anxious, bewildered look on the face of his guest. He knows the visitor was unnerved by the hourslong helicopter ride above the mountains to get to the isolated house and its legendary occupant. “Dude, can we just get past that?” Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) gets past that, unaware that he will have other reasons to freak out soon enough.
The young programmer won the chance to spend a week working with Nathan, the billionaire guru behind the Internet search giant Blue Book (think Google), at his remote retreat. How brilliant is Nathan? He wrote the code for his business behemoth when he was 13 and now has created something or someone named Ava (Alicia Vikander).
Ava is a mind-bending hybrid of human and robot. She has a woman’s face and silhouette although some of her skin is metallic mesh or, in the case of her abdomen, seethrough. Her voice is soft and lifelike, rather than harshly robotic, and she’s able to answer and ask questions and engage in abbreviated conversations.
She is an A.I., or example of artificial intelligence. Unlike computers that cannot apply experience, logic or prediction to problem-solving, Ava seems capable of those skills although Caleb is charged with helping to evaluate her abilities. But, as you may suspect, everything or everyone may not be what he, she or it seems as signaled by the baths of red-orange light and references to creation, destruction and whether A.I.s might some day see man as primitive.
“Ex Machina” takes its name from the phrase “Deus ex machina” or “god from the machine” referring to a dramatic, problemsolving flourish in fiction or on stage. While it revolves around three well-cast actors, Mr. Isaac is a standout as the enigmatic creator, a smart physical and emotional counterpoint to the red-haired, empathetic coder rightfully thrilled or unsettled by what he
sees.
With an almost shaved head, bushy black beard and eyeglasses, Mr. Isaac leaves the ambitious immigrant businessman from “A Most Violent Year” and the melancholy folk musician in “Inside Llewyn Davis” behind. This bigbrained creator sees himself as something of a god who nevertheless gets drunk regularly (but exercises fiercely) and even shows an improbable flair for disco dancing.
Director-writer Alex Garland, who wrote the screenplay “28 Days Later” and the source novel for “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, uses locations in Norway as a sort of sci-fi garden of Eden. The film was shot (but not set) there and at studios in London.
It’s smart and disturbing and suspenseful and even if the only thing you know about computer pioneer Alan Turing — namechecked here — is that Benedict Cumberbatch played him in “The Imitation Game,” you won’t be lost as you puzzle out what’s real, what’s robotic and what we can or should get past.