Ex Machina

When a Long Island computer programmer (Domhnall Gleeson, playing the same sad-sack stargazer role as he did in Frank) wins a company lottery, he gets whisked off to the remote underground research lab of Nathan (Oscar Isaac), his mysterious and obscenely rich boss. Nathan reveals that he has developed a robot capable of artificial intelligence—the curvaceous and curious Ava, played by Alicia Vikander with a huge assist from some mind-bending special effects—and that the meager programmer has been recruited to assist in the final phase of her development. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later…; Dredd) makes his directorial debut with this sleek sci-fi chamber play, and he exhibits the visual command of a true filmmaker, even if his storytelling gets wobbly at times. Best in show goes to Oscar Isaac, reimagining the evil scientist as a socially isolated scumbag jock, equal parts Victor Frankenstein and Frank T.J. Mackie. D.B.