EX MACHINA
dir. Alex Garland
I would describe this film as a modern day Frankenstein kind of story. Genius billionaire Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) invites one of his employees Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) to his private estate in the middle of nowhere to help him carry out the Turing Test on an Artificial Intelligence he has created name Ava (Alicia Vikander) The film was universally praised for its screenplay, direction, atmosphere, visual effects, and the performances of Isaac, Gleeson, and Vikander, with the latter receiving nominations for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Ex Machina also received two Oscar nominations; one for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Visual Effects which it won, beating big-budget films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, and Mad Max: Fury Road. It is a very thought-provoking film, exploring themes of identity, love, innocence and playing God.