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Ex Machina.
I'd be remiss to say I didn't think this will be a certified classic at some point, but it deals with the deceptive qualities of the human thought process, building and dismantling sexual identity through the male gaze, abusive/submissive relationship dynamics and the limits of control, and all in the confines of a movie about a dirtbag hipster Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac's Nathan) and the audience surrogate (Domnhall Gleeson's Caleb) pursuing the final steps in the development of the world's first fully aware AI (Alicia Virkander's Ava).
While there have been a few of these sorts of films that tried to get at the ideas at play of the singularity and technology offering a bridge beyond conscious human thought, Ex Machina puts it all in a rather disturbing yet believable light. The sorts of leaps and bounds in this sort of tech wouldn't come from some government think tank or NASA engineers, and it wouldn't be in the pursuit of some noble goal. It'd primarily be designed based upon sexuality and the basest beginnings of human interaction, made in the image of its creator and what that creator's biases reflect. Makes more practical sense than Johnny Depp becoming a nanobot wizard.
The film starts off a little slow but once the second session between Caleb and Ava begins, truths are revealed and the tension building game begins. Setting it all in a claustrophobic set of corridors and windowless rooms adds to the inevitability of the final act, which is as intense as it is a logical conclusion to the whole experiment.
Lots of big ideas on display and Garland puts it all in rather plain, succinct terms. Really great moment involving automatic painting and applying the concept of it to explain the sorts of tactics and behaviors necessary to create something as complex as Ava.
Anyway, see it. It's a great piece of science fiction.
I'd be remiss to say I didn't think this will be a certified classic at some point, but it deals with the deceptive qualities of the human thought process, building and dismantling sexual identity through the male gaze, abusive/submissive relationship dynamics and the limits of control, and all in the confines of a movie about a dirtbag hipster Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac's Nathan) and the audience surrogate (Domnhall Gleeson's Caleb) pursuing the final steps in the development of the world's first fully aware AI (Alicia Virkander's Ava).
While there have been a few of these sorts of films that tried to get at the ideas at play of the singularity and technology offering a bridge beyond conscious human thought, Ex Machina puts it all in a rather disturbing yet believable light. The sorts of leaps and bounds in this sort of tech wouldn't come from some government think tank or NASA engineers, and it wouldn't be in the pursuit of some noble goal. It'd primarily be designed based upon sexuality and the basest beginnings of human interaction, made in the image of its creator and what that creator's biases reflect. Makes more practical sense than Johnny Depp becoming a nanobot wizard.
The film starts off a little slow but once the second session between Caleb and Ava begins, truths are revealed and the tension building game begins. Setting it all in a claustrophobic set of corridors and windowless rooms adds to the inevitability of the final act, which is as intense as it is a logical conclusion to the whole experiment.
Lots of big ideas on display and Garland puts it all in rather plain, succinct terms. Really great moment involving automatic painting and applying the concept of it to explain the sorts of tactics and behaviors necessary to create something as complex as Ava.
Anyway, see it. It's a great piece of science fiction.
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