A story can be told in many ways, but it is the job of the storyteller to tell the story in the most entertaining way possible. Sometimes, it is achieved by controlling information from the audience and Ex Machina does a phenomenal job of doing exactly that. Directorial debut of Alex Garland whose most recent feature was Annihilation, Ex Machina has a simple plot, an employee wins a contest and gets to test an android with Artificial Intelligence in a Turing test. The movie stands out from the previous movies made on AI because it speaks very less to its viewers and rather invites to uncover each information as the story proceeds.
Attention! Spoilers Ahead.
The director chooses to tell the story from the perspective of Caleb who, over the course of events, moves from knowing nothing to knowing everything. This choice of perspective is important because it keeps the audience engaged throughout the movie. It wouldn’t have been so if we experienced the story from Nathan’s or Eva’s point of view because they both know information that Caleb does not. We experience the turn of events just as Caleb does. We learn about Nathan, Caleb’s purpose of visit, and Eva all through the eyes of Caleb. He experiences what John Truby in his book the Anatomy of Story calls the ‘Journey of Discovery’ wherein he learns key pieces of information about Nathan, Eva, and the real reason behind his visit that forces him to change his desire or motivation. The order in which the audience gets to see these revelations is important because it sustains the audience’s attention. The following revelations – Caleb’s role in the Turing Test; Nathan being untrustworthy according to Eva; Eva’s romantic feelings towards Caleb; Nathan’s plan to kill Eva; the real test of escape; Eva escaping the facility and leaving Caleb to die; all are logically tied together, increasing in pace as the movie progresses. This creates excitement for the viewer and builds up tension all along.
Ex Machina gives importance to its viewers by assigning them a role in filling the gaps that they see right from the beginning. The movie opens with a scene where we see Caleb winning a contest. The next scene is of him flying in a helicopter over a sprawling estate. We are not told which contest, what prize but through the exchange between the pilot and Caleb, we understand that it involves meeting someone, that he is rich and the place is secluded from the city. The movie speaks minimal to the audience, creating suspense and giving away minute information at various instances, luring the viewer to tie the loose ends to make sense. The viewer is kept in the dark, always wondering about what the next action of characters would be, whom to trust, and which side to root for. Thus, the brilliance of Ex Machina lies in providing all the dots to the audience but, not connecting them.
Almost all movies with AI characters ask a fundamental question – Is the AI actually human? Ex Machina sets itself apart by not quite revealing completely if Eva is indeed a human. In one scene, Caleb explains to Nathan that a machine can’t be claimed to have AI if it is able to play chess. It has to know what ‘chess’ means. In the end, Eva is revealed to have been programmed by Nathan to escape by manipulating Caleb. And she does succeed, killing Nathan in the process. But was she aware of the idea of freedom, its value for her? Or was it only because she was programmed for it. We really don’t get definitive answers. We just see her finding a joy as she takes her place among the people from the outside world. Maybe Eva successfully transcends being an AI as well as what it means to be human. In Caleb’s words, she creates the history of Gods.