Aside from the effects, this is probably quite a modestly budgeted film, as the small little-known cast and limited sets suggest. Not only this but the marvellous special effects compliment this performance to create a very distinctive character.

It's a nuanced performance that captures the fine balance between the human-like and machine. While the very small cast all acquit themselves very well, it is Vikander who stands out in the film's most challenging role. In the earlier film Scarlett Johansson played an alien, here Alicia Vikander plays an android. Both feature highly advanced female non-humans. In many ways Ex Machina resembles last years Under the Skin. It also considers if sometimes part of being human is that we sometimes subconsciously want to be fooled by an illusion, if it is attractive enough. The very well written script poses philosophical questions such as is there moral or immoral ways to treat AI. How we interact with AI as humans, as well as how a seductive machine could in turn manipulate us. The central concept that it examines is artificial intelligence.

That's not to say it isn't dramatic or even thrilling because it is both of those things as well but the focus is squarely on the science fiction speculation, and this is a very welcome thing. It's a hard sci-fi movie which examines concepts and ideas above everything else.

Despite contributing several scripts for the screen, this is writer Alex Garland's first directorial effort. Specifically he is tasked with using the Turing test on her to establish if her AI is sufficiently convincing to pass as human. A reclusive CEO of a leading technology company hires a young whiz kid who works for him to test his latest development, a highly advanced android called Ava.

T mac 3 2014