Ex Machina (2015)
91%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
73 wins & 161 nominations total
Ex Machina leans heavier on ideas than effects, but it’s still a visually polished piece of work — and an uncommonly engaging sci-fi feature.
Ex Machina is like a sci-fi version of The Bachelor, but instead of roses, the contestants are fighting for their lives. The sleek and modern setting of the techno-bunker is the perfect backdrop for the intense power struggle between the small cast of characters. And let’s not forget about Ava, the AI who steals the show with her captivating performance. This movie will leave you questioning the morality of technology and the depths of human depravity. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Juvet Landscape Hotel, Alstad, Valldal, Norway
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for graphic nudity, language, sexual references and some violence
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 47m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 24, 2015 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 14, 2015
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno, Claire Selby, Gana Bayarsaikhan, directed by Alex Garland, written by Alex Garland, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kjerstin Johnson, Jason Bailey, Emily St James, Alison Willmore, David Sims, Paul Byrnes, Brian Eggert, Rosa Parra, Graeme Tuckett, Angus Batey, Cate Young, Richard Crouse, produced by Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, MPAA rating R, Turing test, artificial intelligence, sci-fi, thriller, gender, power struggle, technology, consciousness, programmer, CEO, internet company, private estate, human component, visually polished, engaging, brainy, philosophical, mind twist, limited cast, character misdirection, plot twists, uncertainty, distrust, deception, death, dangers of technology, power, equality
Worldwide gross: $36,869,414
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $46,022,923
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,375
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,018,857
US/Canada gross: $25,442,958
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,759,639
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,254
US/Canada opening weekend: $237,264
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $296,169
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,545
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $18,724,025
Production budget ranking: 1,397
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,082,888
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $17,216,010
ROI to date (est.): 60%
ROI ranking: 1,103
Oscar Isaac – Nathan Bateman
Alicia Vikander – Ava
Sonoya Mizuno – Kyoko
Claire Selby – Lily
Gana Bayarsaikhan – Jade
Director(s)
Alex Garland
Writer(s)
Alex Garland
Producer(s)
Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
Film Festivals
South by Southwest
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
73 wins & 161 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Visual Effects Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (284) | Top Critics (68) | Fresh (262) | Rotten (22)
I enjoyed watching the small cast of characters conspire with and against one another within the confines of a chillingly beautiful and remote techno-bunker.
January 27, 2021
Kjerstin Johnson
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
A crackling good entertainment, a brainy science fiction picture executed in a clean, concise style, with a narrative as logical as it is unpredictable.
May 28, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
It’s just a story of four characters in a secluded location, shot on an obviously small budget. But deep inside of it is a fully imagined idea of where humanity is headed — and what evils we’re capable of.
December 11, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Emily St. James
Vox
TOP CRITIC
Ex Machina is a disquieting power struggle waged in terms of human weaknesses, refracted through gender.
November 10, 2015
Alison Willmore
BuzzFeed News
TOP CRITIC
Ex Machina has a precise visual sheen that evokes David Fincher, and earns the sudden, quiet, powerful scares of his best work.
October 14, 2015
David Sims
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
This is a film of creepy modernity and prescience, as Metropolis was in its time.
May 7, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
By considering such ideas in an enclosed environment with so few characters, Garland has made Ex Machina an intense, engaging film that plays with the viewer’s head and, as the best films often do, demands an exceptional degree of time to process.
June 21, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
A fascinating sci-fi study of A.I. with incredible performances all around.
November 20, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
Ex Machina is a smart, literate and occasionally quite brilliant film, which will upend a few of your expectations for where this story will end and how it will get there.
October 29, 2021
Graeme Tuckett
Stuff.co.nz
Alex Garland’s directorial debut is an artificial intelligence film that asks the right questions…
May 18, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Angus Batey
NME
It’s uncomfortable to consider that Ava might in fact be the heroine of this movie, but it’s hard for me to find sympathy for men who only see her as an object to be abused or pitied.
March 19, 2021
Cate Young
Thirty, Flirty + Film
A high tech thriller that by and large ignores the tech to get down to the nitty gritty.
February 3, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse…
Plot
Caleb, a 26 year old programmer at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Ex Machina features a small cast of just three main characters: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander.
Alex-Garland.jpg
