EX MACHINA - MASSIVE FECKIN SPOILERS THREAD

[shaolin_monkey]

Right, a few of us have seen the Ex Machina film now, and I know at least one of us is gagging to chat about it.

I've set this thread up JUST FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN IT.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM YET, READ NO FURTHER, OR THE FILM WILL DEFINITELY BE SPOILT FOR YOU WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY SEE IT.

I'm going to leave that statement hanging there for a bit before I post my thoughts, but if anyone wants to jump in with theirs first, go for it!!

[shaolin_monkey]

No takers for first diving in?

Ok, I'll start - I was as suckered by Ava as Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), and was taken aback by her complete disregard of his situation at the end.  It turned out that Nathan was completely correct about the AI's manipulation, but like Caleb I think on some level I refused to believe it.

Stupid, I know - at the end of the day Ava WAS NOT HUMAN, and despite the obviousness of this (the mostly robotic looking body), Caleb and I anthropomorphised her.

Was it just me, or did anyone else have the same kind of experience?

[Goaty]

Well it all same A.I. from previous models with bit adding of improvement, learn from mistakes and copy Nathan's behaviour who used the models.

[Steve Green]

I don't think completely suckered, more entertaining the idea that there might be a happy ending for two of the characters rather than just Ava.

[Zenith 666]

Absolutely suckered but I've always been suckered by beautiful women :)my only gripe with whole film is for billionaire he's got a really small TV in the guest room.looking forward to seeing it again.

[shaolin_monkey]

What did everyone think of Nathan?  I thought he was seriously disturbed - on the one hand, a massive creative genius and vast intellect, on the other hand he had a fixation of creating AI in naked female bodies.

His commentary about wanting to give the AI some sexuality only went partially towards explaining why they were all female, naked, and generally decommissioned to be used as sex toys if the AI didn't work out. 

The cupboard full of 'used' female parts was creepy as hell. 

Any thoughts?

[Steve Green]

He was pretty much unsettling from the off - the initial line about being hungover and nonplussed when asked about the party, combined with the framing of Caleb and Nathan where Nathan is almost pushing Caleb off screen.

There seemed little to distinguish him from a serial killer, and even then when he said he'd had the engineers killed - you weren't sure if he was joking or not.

[Ghastly McNasty]

Yeah, he came across as a right nut job but kudos for creating his own legion of sexbots.

He seemed to enjoy being described as a god a bit too much for my liking. I guess it was all part of trying to get you to side with the robot; the fact she was being controlled and oppressed by a loon.

[Eric Plumrose]

I hate it when I guess plot twists. It's not something I do pro-actively but the mere act of reading a logline or watching a trailer will trigger thoughts and ideas; thank chuff, then, the film avoids doing the Shyamalan Shuffle. The drama hinges on those twists, not the entire film.

Apart from the cosmetic appearance of the AIs, my only quibbles at the time were the mad genius cliché and the teasingly technophobic ending, wonderful and wrenching as they were both acted and written. I dunno, I thought. Maybe if Nathan himself had been revealed as an AI and Caleb as the CEO I wouldn't have had those niggles.

The more I do think about it, however, Ava really is indifferent to Caleb's plight. And she doesn't go on a killing spree once she escapes. Moral: Don't let yourself be seduced and trapped by technology. Technology doesn't yet care enough to save you.

Yeah, I like that.

[Proteus4]

I read Caleb as being purposefully megalomaniacal to reinforce the perception in Nathan's head that Ava needed saving, so he was acting. We only see the real Caleb when he comes clean to Nathan that his real Turing test was testing whether Ava would fight to survive and would Nathan fall for her even though she is clearly a machine.

The twist of Ava not actually caring for Nathan and playing him for a fool was definitely something I suspected but I loved how she controlled him at the end - just saying "wait here" and then Nathan obediently sitting there expecting her to return.

I loved this film. And perhaps I've seen too many AI movies (Demon Seed, anyone?) but I never trusted Ava at all - despite being completely in love with her myself.

[shaolin_monkey]

Have I got it the wrong way around?  I thought Nathan was the creator, and Caleb was Domnal Gleeson?

[Proteus4]

Nah you're prob right - I saw it about 2
weeks ago so I'm prob bein stoopid

[Theblazeuk]

Finally caught this and dimly remembered a thread I had avoided like the plague on here till now

Very much enjoyed it! Didn't want Caleb to just be left there but expected it nonetheless. Maybe more along the lines of him being killed outright though.

Only thing that niggles me is Kaioko, the sex-bot. Nathan just lets it walk around? Why did it visit Ava independently? And what made it stab Nathan?

[JOE SOAP]

Didn't want Caleb to just be left there but expected it nonetheless. Maybe more along the lines of him being killed outright though.

I think leaving Caleb alive in the locked room left Ava's motivations/intentions more ambiguous.

[shaolin_monkey]

I didn't think there was anything ambiguous about it. She needed to neutralise the two other intelligences in order to effect her escape. Celeb being trapped with no means of getting out and stopping her was just that. I don't think she cared past that.

What is ambiguous is whether Caleb lived or died (probably died a horrible death of dehydration or starvation), but that's us, the viewer, the human, questioning that - the non-human, the AI, clearly did not give two hoots either way.