Ex Machina (2015)
Wow. Smart character-based sci-fi. How often do we see that eh?
There are essentially three characters. Domhall Gleeson plays the protagonist: an awkward employee programmer who wins a competition for a one-on-one meeting with the eccentric company boss and is given a special opportunity. Oscar Isaac gives a very full performance as the eccentric boss in question. Finally Alicia Vikander is just as awesome in this English film as she was in the Danish film "A Royal Affair".
Visually gorgeous, but mainly relying on its very intelligent dialogue. The film builds up to some rather awesome conclusions and an unusually gratifying ambiguous
ending. It doesn't take much to be a better exploration of AI than this year's Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, but arguably it does take a lot to be more satisfying to watch than Mad Max: Fury Road. For me, this is the best film I have seen this year by a clear margin. It helps that I'm a fan of sci-fi and am drawn to character-based films.
Perhaps I'm missing something with the accusations of misogyny? Certainly we see misogyny from characters, but I don't see that the film is misogynistic. Part of the joy of the ending for me is that it isn't obvious who to side with at the end. The separation between the laddish male characters and the female robot seems important to the creepy us-and-them dynamic between their personalities. (A dynamic which I think is a fully intentional, rather than an accident of the writer’s preferences.) It feels to me that an accusation of misogyny requires a very narrow interpretation of the ending. For me, the male centric rhetoric in the film is justified by its relevance to the plot.
I suppose I should make at least one criticism. Does the protagonist choose the music in his room at the facility? We never see him turn it on and its the sort of chirpy 80s pop that could drive you mental if you weren't personally very keen.
Interesting, beautiful, thought-provoking, creepy and with a very tight script from Alex Garland for his directorial debut. I hear that Garland wasn't happy with the way Sunshine ended. Perhaps it could have been better if Garland directed that himself too?
A+