“Ex Machina” is the Psychological Equivalent to the Physicality of “The Terminator”

The 2014 cult favorite, Ex Machina, continues to age eerily well as a cautionary tale on the advances of AI, and an expansion of the themes The Terminator series explored initially

When The Terminator first released in theaters in 1984, audiences were blown away with how relentless the action was, how terrifying Arnold Schwarzenegger could be, and how impressive the special effects were. While the film is still a stone-cold classic, it has certainly aged some (the soundtrack especially stands out as super old), and only briefly touches between the action on AI and the dangers that lie with advances in it.

The sequel to it, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, double-downed on everything mentioned above, especially the special effects which are still flat-out incredible even watching the movie in 2021. T2 spent ample time trying to humanize Schwarzenegger’s stoic character as much as possible, as well as fleshing out the theme of the growing concern in enhancing technology and giving AI more autonomy. Which is why it’s ultimately better than its predecessor.

In 2014, exactly 30 years after the first ‘Terminator’ movie came out, Alex Garland released a sci-fi movie called “Ex Machina”, which still feels underseen and underrated after seven years. What’s most interesting about this film is that structurally, it does a total 180 on what The Terminator series did, in that ‘Machina’ limits the action, and instead focuses on the psyche on AI.

Without giving too much away, it’s the story of an Elon Musk-type inventor, named Nathan, played by the always solid Oscar Isaac, who holds a contest in his company in which one of his programmers, named Caleb, played by Domhnall Gleeson, wins. His award – going to Nathan’s remote mansion in the middle of the woods, which also serves as Nathan’s laboratory for where he has secretly, and successfully, created the most human-like android yet.

The android’s name is Ava, played perfectly by Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander. Caleb is told by Nathan that he has been brought here to conduct sessions with Ava, where he is to learn as much about her as possible. Basically, Caleb is serving as an intermediary third party to check Nathan’s biases on if his creation is truly as great as she is. He comes to find out quickly, she absolutely is, and perhaps even more than either one of them expect.

There is a sexual element introduced that ends up tying the film together, exploring the theme of seduction and if AI can master this art in order to persuade, and perhaps betray, their creators.

The special effects in Machina are also outstanding, and it won for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars. Ava and the other robots Nathan is working on look totally lifelike despite possessing a partially robotic exterior. The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, as Garland’s ideas are deep and multi-layered. Not to mention the three central characters are developed incredibly well.

While, as said, there is some action involved in Ex Machina, it’s nowhere close to the explosiveness we have seen from The Terminator series. And that’s in no way a shot at that series, I personally think T2 is one of the greatest films ever made. But that series doesn’t go as deep into the psyche with the subject at hand as ‘Machina’ does. Garland shows determination to explore every facet. Since Ava is so lifelike, is it fair to keep her in this prison as a zoo animal? Can she be trusted? Is she capable of human emotions like love and affection? Just how powerful mentally (and maybe physically) is she?

And, as we have seen especially over the last decade, Elon Musk, and the company he founded, Tesla, have both emerged as titans in the tech industry. As said, there’s no doubt in my mind Garland crafted the character of Nathan after Musk. And just last month, Musk announced that Tesla will be releasing their very own “Tesla Bot”, a 125-pound, sleek robot that can service humans in many ways (even going to the grocery store for you!).

Talk about eerie.

The Terminator highlighted this as a cataclysmic problem in the future, ‘Machina’, 30 years later, warns that the day of super-intelligent AI is literally right around the corner. And now, with this recent announcement from Musk and Tesla, the prophecy could turn out to be potentially true. Maybe not in an apocalyptic sense like The Terminator series presents it, but still, the concern is real – and will only grow as these types of advances are made.

If you haven’t seen ‘Machina’ – I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of the best movies of the 2010’s (I have it in my Top 5), and it’s all because of these themes involved. If you like movies that make you think, and more importantly – make you ponder about the future and what’s the come in terms of AI and technology, I can’t think of a better film than this.