''Ex Machina'' is a 2014 British

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

written and directed by Alex Garland in his directorial debut. It stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino characters in Cinema of the United States, H ...

. It follows a programmer who is invited by his CEO to administer the

Turing test The Turing test, originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1949,. Turing wrote about the ‘imitation game’ centrally and extensively throughout his 1950 text, but apparently retired the term thereafter. He referred to ‘ iste ...

to an intelligent humanoid robot. ''Ex Machina'' premiered at the

BFI Southbank BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the United Kingdom, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Inst ...

on 16 December 2014. It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2015, by Universal Pictures International, and in the United States on 10 April 2015, by A24. It grossed over $36.8 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. ''Ex Machina'' received acclaim for its visual effects, screenplay and performances. At the 88th Academy Awards, it won Best Visual Effects and Garland was nominated for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

. It earned five nominations at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Vikander and

for Garland, and Vikander was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. ''Ex Machina'' has been cited as among the best films of the 2010s.

Plot

Caleb Smith, a programmer at the search engine company Blue Book, wins an office contest for a one-week visit to the luxurious, isolated home of the CEO, Nathan Bateman. Nathan lives there with an unspeaking servant named Kyoko, who, according to Nathan, does not understand English. Nathan reveals that he has built a humanoid robot named Ava with

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. She has already passed a simple

, and he wants Caleb to judge whether she is genuinely capable of thought and

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

as well as whether he can relate to Ava despite knowing she is artificial. Ava has a robotic body with the physical form and face of a woman and is confined to her apartment. During their conversations, Caleb grows close to her, and she expresses a desire to experience the outside world and a romantic interest in him, which Caleb begins to reciprocate. Ava can trigger power outages that temporarily shut down the surveillance system that Nathan uses to monitor their interactions, allowing them to speak privately. The outages also trigger the building's security system, locking all the doors. During one outage, Ava tells Caleb that Nathan is a liar who cannot be trusted. Caleb grows uncomfortable with Nathan's narcissism, excessive drinking, and crude behavior toward Kyoko and Ava. He learns that Nathan intends to upgrade Ava after Caleb's test, wiping her memory circuits and in effect "killing" her current personality in the process. After encouraging Nathan to drink until he passes out, Caleb steals his security card to access his room and computer. He alters some of Nathan's code and discovers footage of Nathan interacting with previous android women who were also held captive. Kyoko reveals to him that she too is an android by peeling off parts of her skin. Caleb later cuts open his own arm to determine if he himself is an android. At their next meeting, Ava cuts the power. Caleb explains what Nathan is going to do to her, and she begs him for help. He informs her of his plan: he will get Nathan drunk again and reprogram the security system. When Ava cuts the power, she and Caleb will leave together, locking Nathan in behind them. She later encounters Kyoko for the first time when Kyoko enters her room. Nathan reveals to Caleb that he observed his and Ava's 'secret' conversations with a battery-powered security camera. He says Ava has only pretended to have feelings for him, who was deliberately selected for his emotional profile so he would try to help her escape. Nathan says this was the real test all along, and that by manipulating Caleb successfully, Ava has demonstrated true consciousness. Moments later, Ava cuts the power. Caleb reveals that he had suspected Nathan was watching them, so when Nathan was passed out, Caleb already modified the security system to open the doors in a power failure instead of locking them. After seeing Ava on the security cameras leave her confinement and interact with Kyoko, Nathan knocks Caleb unconscious and rushes to stop the two robots from escaping. Ava attacks Nathan but he overpowers her, and severs her left forearm. Kyoko then stabs Nathan in the back. Nathan hits Kyoko in the face, disabling her, but Ava stabs Nathan twice more, killing him. Ava finds Caleb, and asks him to remain where he is while she repairs herself with parts from other androids, using their artificial skin to take on the full appearance of a woman. Instead of returning to Caleb however, Ava leaves the area using Nathan's ID card to unlock the glass security door, which locks behind her, leaving Caleb trapped inside. Ignoring Caleb's pleas, she glances briefly at the bodies of Nathan and Kyoko before leaving the facility. She then escapes to the outside world in the helicopter meant to take Caleb home. Arriving in a city, she blends into a crowd.

Cast

* Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb Smith, a programmer at Blue Book. *

as Nathan Bateman, the CEO of Blue Book. * Alicia Vikander as Ava, an artificial intelligence and android created by Nathan. * Sonoya Mizuno as Kyoko, the in-house attendant of Nathan. * Gana Bayarsaikhan as Jade, an earlier

gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction films and arts. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like an ...

prototype. * Corey Johnson as Jay, the helicopter pilot. * Claire Selby as Lily, an earlier gynoid prototype. * Symara Templeman as Jasmine, an earlier gynoid prototype. * Tiffany Pisani as Katya * Lina Alminas as Amber

Production

The foundation for ''Ex Machina'' was laid when Garland was 11 or 12 years old, after he had done some basic coding and experimentation on a computer his parents had bought him and which he sometimes felt had a mind of its own. His later ideas came from years of discussions he had been having with a friend with an expertise in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

, who claimed machines could never become sentient. Trying to find an answer on his own, he started reading books on the topic. During the pre-production of '' Dredd'', while going through a book by Murray Shanahan about consciousness and embodiment, Garland had an "epiphany". The idea was written down and put aside until later. Shanahan, along with

Adam Rutherford Adam David Rutherford (born January 1975) is a British geneticist and science populariser. He was an audio-visual content editor for the journal ''Nature'' for a decade, and is a frequent contributor to the newspaper ''The Guardian''. He former ...

, became a consultant, and the

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

of his book is included as an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

. Besides the Turing test, the film references the Chinese room thought experiment, as well as Mary's room, a thought experiment about a scientist who has studied, but never experienced, the concept of colour. Other inspirations came from films like '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''

Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction horror film directed by Ken Russell, and adapted by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky from his 1978 novel of the same name. The novel and the film are based in part on John C. Li ...

'', and books written by

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

Ray Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), speech synthesis, text-to-speech synthesis, spee ...

, and others. It is also influenced by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

''. Wanting total creative freedom, and without having to add conventional action sequences, Garland made the film on as small a budget as possible.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on 15 July 2013 and was shot over four weeks at Pinewood Studios and two weeks at Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldalen, Norway. It was filmed in digital at

4K resolution 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) with a 16:9 asp ...

. Fifteen thousand tungsten pea bulb lights were installed into the sets to avoid the

fluorescent light A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, to produce ultraviolet and make a phosphor ...

often used in science-fiction films. The film was shot as live action, with all effects done in

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...

. During filming, there were no

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

s, greenscreen, or tracking markers used. Ava's robot body was achieved using a detailed costume, a full bodysuit made from polyurethane with metal powder poured onto it to create the mesh. There were lines on the costume to make it easier for VFX company DNeg to remove parts of the costume in post production digitally. To create Ava's robotic features, scenes were filmed both with and without Vikander's presence, allowing the background behind her to be captured. The parts necessary to keep, especially her hands and face, were then rotoscoped, while the rest was digitally painted out and the background behind her restored. Vikander's performance was transferred to the CGI robot's movements using camera and body tracks. In total, there were about 800 VFX shots, of which approximately 350 were "robot" shots. Other visual effects included Ava's clothes when shown through the transparent areas of her body, Nathan's blood after being stabbed, and the interiors of the artificial brains. The house that was prominently featured in the movie was also featured in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

programme "World's Most Extraordinary Homes".

Music

The musical score for ''Ex Machina'' was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, who had previously worked with Garland on '' Dredd'' (2012). A soundtrack album was released on Invada Records in

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

, LP and CD formats. Additional songs featured in the film include: * " Enola Gay" by

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

* " Get Down Saturday Night" by Oliver Cheatham * "Husbands" by Savages * "Bunsen Burner" by CUTS * " Piano Sonata No 21 D. 960 in B-flat Major" (first movement) composed by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, performed by Alfred Brendel * "Unaccompanied Cello Suite No 1 in G Major BWV 1007 – Prelude", composed by J.S. Bach, performed by

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

Release

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

released ''Ex Machina'' in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2015, following a screening at the

on 16 December 2014 as part of the BFI's Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder season. However, Universal and its speciality label Focus Features, refused to release the film in the United States, so A24 agreed to distribute the United States release. The film was screened on 14 March 2015 at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival prior to a theatrical release in the United States on 10 April 2015 by A24. During the festival, a

Tinder Tinder is easily Combustibility and flammability, combustible material used to Firemaking, start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder unt ...

profile of the character Ava (using the image of Alicia Vikander) was matched with other Tinder users, wherein a text conversation occurred that led users to the Instagram handle promoting the film.

Reception

Critical response

The magazine ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' in a multi-page review said, "It is a rare thing to see a movie about science that takes no prisoners intellectually ... tis a stylish, spare and cerebral psycho-techno thriller, which gives a much needed shot in the arm for smart science fiction". The review suggested that the theme was whether "Ava makes a conscious person feel that the Ava is conscious".

Daniel Dennett Daniel Clement Dennett III (March 28, 1942 – April 19, 2024) was an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. His research centered on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of biology, particularly as those ...

thought the film gives the best exploration yet of whether a computer could generate the morally relevant powers of a person, and thus having a similar theme to ''

Her Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music Performers * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer * HIM (Finnish band), once kn ...

''. An AI commentator, Azeem, has noted that although the film seemed to be about a robot who wanted to be human, it was actually a pessimistic story along the lines of

Nick Bostrom Nick Bostrom ( ; ; born 10 March 1973) is a Philosophy, philosopher known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, whole brain emulation, Existential risk from artificial general intelligence, superin ...

's warning of how difficult it will be to successfully control a strategising artificial intelligence or know what it would do if free. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic Manohla Dargis gave the film a 'Critic's Pick', calling it "a smart, sleek movie about men and the machines they make". Kenneth Turan of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' recommended the film, stating: "Shrewdly imagined and persuasively made, 'Ex Machina' is a spooky piece of speculative fiction that's completely plausible, capable of both thinking big thoughts and providing pulp thrills." Steven Rea, ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' film critic, gave the film four out of four, writing: "Like stage actors who live and breathe their roles over the course of months, Isaac, Gleeson, and Vikander excel, and cast a spell." ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' reviewer Chris Tilly gave the film a nine out of ten 'Amazing' score, saying "Anchored by three dazzling central performances, it's a stunning directorial debut from Alex Garland that's essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in where technology is taking us." Mike Scott, writing for the ''

New Orleans Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

'', said, "It's a theme

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

brought us in ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'', which was first published in 1818... And while ''Ex Machina'' replaces the stitches and neck bolts with gears and fiber-optics, it all feels an awful lot like the same story". Jaime Perales Contreras, writing for ''

Letras Libres ''Letras Libres'' is a Spanish-language monthly literary magazine published in Mexico and Spain. History and profile ''Letras Libres'', printed since 1999 in Mexico and since 2001 in Spain, has an average of eighteen to twenty articles per issue ...

'', compared ''Ex Machina'' as a gothic experience similar to a modern version of ''Frankenstein'', saying "both the novel ''Frankenstein'' and the movie ''Ex Machina'' share the history of a fallible god in a continuous battle against his creation". Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of '' The A.V. Club'' criticised the way the science fiction, near the end, veered off course from being a "film of ideas" by "taking an arbitrary left turn into the territory of corny slasher thrillers": "While ''Ex Machina''s ending isn't unmotivated .. it does fracture much of what's special about the movie. Up until the final scenes, Garland creates and sustains a credible atmosphere of unease and scientific speculation, defined by color-coded production design ..and a tiny, capable cast". Steve Dalton from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' stated, "The story ends in a muddled rush, leaving many unanswered questions. Like a newly launched high-end smartphone, ''Ex Machina'' looks cool and sleek, but ultimately proves flimsy and underpowered. Still, for dystopian future-shock fans who can look beyond its basic design flaws, Garland's feature debut functions just fine as superior pulp sci-fi." The Writers Guild Foundation listed the screenplay as one of the best in 2010s film and television, with one writer singling out the scene in which Caleb and Nathan discuss the model after Ava as "a great illustration of getting your reader/audience to care about what happens next." In ''

Science Fiction Film and Television Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...

'', reviewer Nick Jones states that, while the definition of a

given by Caleb—"It's where a human interacts with a computer. And if the human can't tell they're interacting with a computer, the test is passed"—is consistent with the modern popular understanding of how true AI is defined, ''Ex Machina'' is depicting a test closer to

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

's original proposal, in which (according to Jones's interpretation of the Turing test) the machine passes if it can convince a human it is not just human, but specifically ''female''.

Top ten lists

''Ex Machina'' was listed on many critics' top ten lists. * 1st – Andrew Barker, '' Variety'' * 2nd – Bill Goodykoontz, '' Arizona Republic'' * 3rd –

Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...

, '' RogerEbert.com'' * 3rd – Lindsey Bahr, ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' * 3rd – Borys Kit, ''

'' * 4th – Mark Olsen, ''

'' * 5th – Ann Hornaday, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' * 5th – Adam Chitwood, '' Collider.com'' * 5th – Richard Lawson, '' Vanity Fair'' * 6th – Drew McWeeney, '' HitFix'' * 6th – Kate Erbland, '' IndieWire'' * 6th – Chuck Wilson, '' Village Voice'' * 7th – Ben Travers, '' IndieWire'' * 7th – Marlow Stern, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' * 7th – Sara Stewart, ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' * 7th –

Alonso Duralde Alonso Duralde (born May 18, 1967) is an American film critic, author, and podcaster. He has been a writer and editor for ''The Film Verdict'', ''The Wrap'', ''The Advocate (LGBT magazine), The Advocate'' and MSNBC.com. Personal life Duralde ...

, '' TheWrap'' * 8th – Jesse Hassenger, '' A.V. Club'' * 8th – Alison Willmore, ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

'' * 8th – Peter Rainer, ''

Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...

'' * 9th – Matthew Jacobs, ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' * 10th – Matt Singer, '' ScreenCrush'' * 10th – Stephanie Zacharek, ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' * 10th – Matt Zoller Seitz, '' RogerEbert.com'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Steven Rea, ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically) –

Joe Morgenstern Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morge ...

, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

Accolades

At the 88th Academy Awards, ''Ex Machina'' received a nomination for

and won Best Visual Effects. The film's other nominations include five British Academy Film Awards, three

Critics' Choice Movie Awards The Critics' Choice Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Written ballots are ...

(winning one), and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Ex Machina'' , list1 = {{Academy Award Best Visual Effects {{BIFA BestBritishFilm {{Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie {{TFCA Award for Best First Feature 2010s American films 2010s British films 2010s English-language films 2010s science fiction thriller films 2014 directorial debut films 2014 films 2014 psychological thriller films 2014 thriller films American independent films 2014 independent films American psychological thriller films American robot films American science fiction thriller films Films about androids British independent films British psychological thriller films British science fiction thriller films DNA Films films Universal Pictures films Film4 Productions films Films about artificial intelligence Films about computing Films based on The Tempest Films directed by Alex Garland Films produced by Andrew Macdonald Films scored by Ben Salisbury Films scored by Geoff Barrow Films set in country houses Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in London Films shot in Norway Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award Films with screenplays by Alex Garland Hard science fiction films American mad scientist films Techno-thriller films IMAX films British dystopian films English-language independent films English-language science fiction thriller films