A chilling vision of the not-too-distant future of artificial intelligence. In the mountain retreat of a gifted internet billionaire, a young man takes part in a strange experiment: testing an artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl. But the experiment twists into a dark psychological battle – a love triangle, where loyalties are torn between man and machine. A film by Alex Garland, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac.

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at Blue Book, the world’s largest search engine company, wins the company lottery, granting him a week-long stay at the luxurious mountaintop residence of CEO Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Nathan’s residence is accessible only by helicopter, isolating its inhabitants from the outside world.

Upon arrival, Nathan informs Caleb that this is not his home, but his top-secret research facility. He requires Caleb to sign a non-disclosure agreement to proceed. Caleb is hesitant at first, but Nathan’s implication that this could be the opportunity of a lifetime piques his curiosity. Once Caleb signs the contract, Nathan reveals that he has successfully built an artificial intelligence, and Caleb is selected to perform a Turing test on it during his stay.

The Turing test assesses a machine’s ability to exhibit human-like intelligence in natural language conversations. An evaluator judges conversations between a human and a machine, unaware of which is which. If the evaluator cannot reliably distinguish the machine from the human, the machine has passed the test.

The traditional Turing Test prevents the human evaluator from seeing the machine being assessed, separating them by a curtain or screen and allowing communication only through a keyboard and display. This eliminates the evaluator’s bias from the machine’s physical appearance. However, Nathan’s unique iteration of the test involves an artificial intelligence housed in the body of a beautiful female android named Ava (Alicia Vikander). He seeks to prove that even when an evaluator knows they are communicating with a robot, they may still perceive it as possessing human-like thoughts and consciousness.

Amidst Nathan’s watchful gaze, Caleb continues to engage with Ava, probing her intelligence and capabilities. As their interactions deepen, Caleb finds himself drawn to her, and she reciprocates his interest. However, one day, during a temporary power outage that disables the surveillance system, Ava discreetly warns Caleb that Nathan is not his friend and he should not trust everything Nathan says.

Garland is a British novelist whose previous works include the screenplays for 28 DAYS LATER and SUNSHINE. EX_MACHINA is a masterclass in filmmaking, with every aspect of the film, from the script and storytelling to the cinematography, production design, and soundtrack. Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander deliver sublime performances, with palpable chemistry between them.

EX_MACHINA premiered at BFI Southbank on 16 December 2014, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2015, by Universal Pictures. However, Peter Schlessel, CEO of Focus Features, a division of Universal in the United States, refused to distribute the film, believing it to be unprofitable.

A24 acquired the U.S. distribution rights and released the film theatrically on 10 April 2015. EX_MACHINA grossed $25.4 million in the U.S., and received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its visual effects, screenplay, and performances. At the 88th Academy Awards, EX_MACHINA won Best Visual Effects and Garland was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. With a budget of $15 million, the film grossed over $37 million worldwide.