Nominated For: Best Original Screenplay and Best Visual Effects.
Won: Best Visual Effects.
Ex Machina managed to slip under my radar as I didn't begin to hear about it till around December despite it's April release, and I can say that Ex Machina certainly lived up to the buzz. Alex Garland, writer and director, makes his directorial debut and certainly made a huge splash. The film follows a futuristic society in which a young computer coder is invited to a research facility owned by his company's CEO to test an Artificial Intelligence.
The film centers on a very central core cast of only three characters and all three actors where phenominal. Domhnall Gleeson is essentially the audience's voice throughout the film as he expresses his amazement regarding this technical feat and attempts to rationalize the logistics of artificial intelligence making his character the everyman who is instantly relatable and somewhat likable. Oscar Isaac provides a terrific performance as a very conflicted, foreboding eccentric billionaire that maintains this foreboding mysterious presence throughout.
Alicia Vikander was so convincing as Ava, the artificial intelligence, providing this neutral realm between human and robot as she must portray an artificial intelligence that is so lifelike yet doesn't quite understand humanity. The visual effects on display in this film were mind boggling. The effects used to create Ava looked really realistic and it was believable that Alicia Vikander was actually this AI inside a humanoid robotic body. One interesting aspect is that the film walks the fine line between science fiction and science exploring something that could certainly happen in real life.
The moment the credits started rolling I began to consider one of the central themes present regarding the difference between humans and artificial intelligence. The best description I can provide for Ex Machina is that it was a very thought provoking film with incredible visual effects, terrific performances, and a very intriguing premise.
