Ex Machina

A solid sci-fi movie and a decent update of Frankenstein and The Stepford Wives. 

The movie has something to say about what the technocrats have done to put us all in a permanent surveillance state. 

It also presents a strong statement about how certain kind of men treat women.  

On the one hand, it’s hard not to notice that this movie was made with a low budget. But the actors make it work and the flick pushes forward with scenes that keep you engaged without spectacle or violence. 

If you called this Black Mirror the movie you would not be wrong. But it would also be one of the best episodes. 

Ex Machina has a vibe that reminded me of early M. Night Shyamalan including twist(s) at the end. I’m not sure what happens counts as a twist as the movie is pointing toward its ending with surgical precision all the way through. But the ending works and pays off everything else we have seen. 

On the one hand there is probably one turn too many in the last 10 minutes but on the other hand none of that bothered me in the moment. It only nagged at me later like bug in the software. 

There are dozens of little Easter eggs offering separate comments about issues in the movie in the movie. That includes items in the dialogue, paintings on the walls and even some of the computer code we see. The paintings and the computer code are probably going to fly past the average viewer (like me) but it shows how much thought went into everything. How much care everyone took as they collectively built their film. 

I’m behind, obviously, on Writer/Director Alex Garland. I didn’t know till now that he wrote 28 Days Later and Dredd which are both spectacular flicks. I think this is the best thing I’ve seen of his career as a writer/director. 

Annihilation is good but it drags despite its special effects. And I gave up on Devs after the first episode. 

So far, this remains the film I would hand to people and say, “Here’s an interesting creator to check out, if you are really struck by this you’ll want to jump on his other stuff.” 

I might give Devs another shot.