Movie finally came to Netflix. i've been a big Alex Garland fan since reading "the beach" 20 years ago. wasn't a fan of the movie and i think he wasn't either because he became a full-fledged screenwriter soon after, and now he's a filmmaker. he is a high minded guy and it shows in his work.
"ex machina" is like an extended "black mirror" episode (complete with domhnall gleeson casting) but without the expectant twist that would really spoil the movie. instead, it has somewhat of an ambiguous ending...which is the point of sci-fi (asking questions rather than giving answers).
the story is pretty simple: genius hires employee of his company to run a test with his AI. the test becomes twofold: it's the employee's and the AI's to see who is playing who. it's a completely controlled environment, like a jurassic park of AI. but what seems predictable starts to have some interesting cracks and like i said...the ending was something more than what i expected.
the performances are really good; i get the feeling jared leto wasn't available for the role of the owner of the company. oscar isaac plays him extremely well, but his character was pretty much duplicated in "blade runner 2049".
really good movie if you're a fan of heady, cerebral sci-fi stuff. otherwise, you might find it boring.
out of