THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Manohla Dargis
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| In this scene from Alex Garland’s film, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) meets Ava (Alicia Vikander) for the first time. By A24 on Publish Date April 2, 2015. Photo by A24. |
The perfect 21st-century female looks like a million bucks though costs a great deal more. In “Ex Machina,” Alex Garland’s slyly spooky futuristic shocker about old and new desires, the female in question is a robot called Ava, a name suggestive of both Adam and Eve. Ava has a serene humanoid face and the expressive hands and feet of a dancer, but also the transparent figure of a visible woman anatomy model. While Nathan’s charisma throws the triangulated drama off balance, “
Ex Machina” belongs to Ava, whose depths of meaning enrich the movie and then engulf it. Ava has antecedents in “Pygmalion,” “Metropolis” and elsewhere. [
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| Ex Machina In thrall: Domhnall Gleeson in Alex Garland’s futuristic drama. |
