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Forgotten Film Friday: Ex Machina

A review by Brooks Rich

This is a film I cannot believe hasn't gotten more popular over time. This is one of the best science fiction films to come out in the past ten years and is one of the smartest scripts in who knows how long. Alex Garland is one of the best screenwriters working right now and all of the films he has written are worth watching. Sunshine is one that will be covered on this blog sooner rather than later. But this is his best script in my opinion and was hands down my favorite movie in 2014. This is also a film I can't believe I didn't cover in the first 100 posts of the blog.

We have another film where I don't really want to give away the plot. So I'm going to be vague and give the most basic rundown I can. Progammer Caleb, played by Domhnall Gleesson, wins a contest at his company where he is flown out to the CEO's massive estate to spend a weekend there. The CEO Nathan, a totally fun and crazy Oscar Isaac, tells Caleb he can either hang out, drink, and play pool all weekend, or sign a non-disclosure agreement and work with him on a top secret project. That top secret project is Ava, a new advanced form of Artificial Intelligence played by the amazingly talented Alicia Vikander.  The three main roles are the only cast members and they do an amazing job in this. Alicia Vikander steals the show though as the enigmatic Ava, one of the most fascinating movie characters of the past few years.

The writing is the main thing working here. This script is so tight and keeps everything close to it's chest. Just when you think you know what's going on the movie pulls a fast one. The highest compliment I can give a film like this, where yes it is kind of building to an ending but also a science fiction story warning us about progress moving too fast, is to say that Rod Serling would have been proud to have this as an original Twilight Zone story. It really does feel like the original run of the Twilight Zone although some might also compare it to Black Mirror on Netflix.

I'm not saying anymore about this movie because it's really one you should all go into cold. I had not seen a trailer for this movie when I saw it. That's hard to do these days and so please just go and watch this film immediately.




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