Ex Machina Review

Ex Machina is an independent science fiction psychological thriller which I found to be very intriguing and enjoyable. It was directed and written by Alex Garland who has written the screenplay for lots of films including 28 Days Later which had a budget of $8 million but grossed a box office of $84.7 million which shows it was a successful film. It was also nominated for the Chlotrudis Award for Best Original Screenplay, this shows Garland is a successful screenplay writer. As he also wrote the screenplay for Ex Machina, this already gives me an impression that the plot will be interesting and engaging.

Ava was played by the actor Alicia Vikander who is known for playing Gerda Wegener in the film ‘The Danish Girl’ which had a budget of $15 million but gained a box office of $64.2 million which shows it was a successful film and most likely recognised by a lot of people. Caleb Smith was played by Domhnall Gleeson who is well known for starring in the widely successful film of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Parts One and Two and he starred as Bill Weasley. Nathan Bateman was played by Oscar Isaac who is very well known from playing the character of Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Kyoko was played by Sonoya Mizuno who isn’t a very well known actor and being Kyoko in Ex Machina appears to be her first fairly successful role. By having the actors Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, it helps the publicity of the film as people who liked them as actors will be likely to want to see their next production. I really liked Oscar Isaac as an actor in Star Wars: The Force Awakens so it didn’t surprise me that he portrayed the character of Nathan well in Ex Machina. This shows that the actors they pick may have an effect on someone’s overall opinion of the film.

The producers for Ex Machina were Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. Both of these producers also produced alongside Enrique Lopez-Lavigne and Bernard Bellew to make the film 28 Weeks Later which had a budget of $15 million and grossed a box office of $64.2 million. The prequel for 28 Weeks Later is called 28 Days Later which Andrew Maccdonald produced on his own and Alex Garland is responsible for writing this film. This overall shows how this crew worked together and were successful at making these two films. This gives the overall impression that the film will be well made with a good story line which I felt was achieved in the film.

The musical score for Ex Machina was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow who has previously worked with Alex Garland on Dredd in 2012. This shows that Alex Garland is very experienced in the film industry so he contributes all the right attributes Ex Machina needed. I liked the soundtrack as it built up emotions and tensions which makes a film much more dramatic and engaging. I feel that due to the majority of the crew have worked together in the past, it explains why the film was successful as they would all know what each of them has to offer which gives the film the best possible potential to be successful which it succeeded in.

Overall, I enjoyed the film as I felt it was an interesting story line and I liked how they didn’t have a stereotypical good ending as I don’t like it when films are predictable. I liked the actor Oscar Isaac as I felt he presented the intimidating character of Nathan well and we can see in Star Wars: The Force Awakens he can present the personality of the actors in a believable way in which the audience can connect with the character.