2015’s been a solid year so far for first time directors (excluding The Duff), first with David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows and now with Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. I’m going to briefly ignore some of the usual aspects a reviewer would critique (plot, character, theme, music, etc…) to praise the film’s most striking aspect, its cinematography. Ex Machina is a visually gorgeous film, with every scene containing some form of pure eye candy. The setting ranges from imposing mountainous landscapes, lush green fields, a scenic river surrounded by glaciers, and an ominous building with an inside of various mechanical features (the film was shot in Valldal, Norway, a place I would love to visit). The setting superbly enhances Ex Machina’s thriller aspects in a natural way, with its vast isolation from civilization and claustrophobic rooms underground; the film could have been without characters and still remained more captivating than the average thriller.
The film’s scenery is not the only attractive aspect, however; I’m not one who typically gushes over character appearance, yet I can’t help but appreciate the way Alicia Vikander’s (who plays the A.I. Ava) beauty is conveyed. The actor has an incredible sensuality to her, while her nude scenes contain a natural innocence and beauty which are remarkably free of cheap titillation. The characters themselves are well designed, morally ambiguous people, in particular Ava. Ex Machina has the second notable performance from Domhnall Gleeson (the first being Frank), who is cast here as the film’s protagonist Caleb. His character’s relationship with Ava and her creator Nathan (played by Oscar Issac) appears frustratingly cliché at first, yet steadily builds itself into more complex themes of identity and character morality, all concluding in a gratifying finale. There are no “good guys” in Ex Machina, instead simply characters doing what they believe is the correct thing to do. Ex Machina’s ending permits the viewers to decide how justified each character’s actions were, creating both an intricate and visually beautiful thriller.