This is
the sort of movie the Oscars don’t pay attention to but is good enough that
they can’t ignore it entirely. What to
do with such a film? Nominate it for
best original screenplay! But in all
seriousness, I found this a stylish, cerebral film that explores what it means
to be human.
Caleb,
a skilled coder, is thrilled when his name is drawn for the ultimate company
prize: a week of exclusive face-time
with the company’s brilliant but reclusive owner in his private mountain
retreat. Upon his arrival, Caleb’s boss
Nathan ups the ante even further. He
reveals to Caleb that he’s built a functioning AI, and Caleb will have the
privilege of being the human component in the Turing test he’s running on his
creation. Over the course of Caleb’s
sessions with the AI, called Ava, he looks for flaws or “tells” in her
programming, but he soon finds himself pulled into the intense drama of an
artificial being fighting for her right to survive.
I’ve
not seen writer (now writer-director) Alex Garland’s other work, though I’ve
heard excellent things about 28 Days
Later and Sunshine; however, this
movie makes a fine case for his abilities.
The script keeps the viewer guessing alongside Caleb, constantly
challenging the idea of who is human, what makes us that way, and what rights
that gives us. The plot moves seamlessly
between philosophical sci-fi, extreme suspense, and deeply personal, intimate
character drama.
I really
like that the film pulls in questions, not just of humanity at large, but of
gender-specific humanity as well. There’s
Nathan’s frank discussion of Ava’s anatomy and sexuality and his observation
that it’s no wonder she’s drawn to Caleb, the first man she’s seen besides her
creator. There’s the way he treats
Kyoko, his gorgeous servant who “doesn’t speak a word of English” (to protect
the secrecy of his work, you know,) like an object. There’s the way Ava explores herself as a
woman, and of course, there’s the fact that the creator-creation dynamic takes
a more unnerving slant when it’s a heterosexual male creating a beautiful female
that he keeps locked up in his house, especially one made in such a state of
near-nakedness that most of her body doesn’t even have skin to cover her. Is Nathan Ava’s god? Her father?
Her captor? Her voyeur? Her owner?
The gender relations make all these issues even more engrossing than
they already were.
No
surprise, the acting MVP is Alicia Vikander’s Ava. I love that she speaks and moves like a robot
but still infuses the role with such humanity.
Tiny gestures and inflections forever remind you that, while Ava isn’t
human, that doesn’t mean she’s not real.
Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley from Harry
Potter) does a solid job as Caleb, a smart man who’s in no way prepared for
the head-trip he endures in this movie.
And in #OscarsSoWhite news, I’d previously heard great things about
Oscar Isaac (the hugely likeable Poe from Star
Wars: The Force Awakens) as Nathan,
and his performance is fascinating – he strikes a perfect balance between
affable and a-hole, disarming and dangerous.
Realistically, though, he’s too understated and the film is too
outside-the-box for award notice; if the Academy didn’t recognize Vikander’s
incredible work, there was no way they’d look twice at Isaac’s terrific but
non-showy performance.
Warnings
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