Ex Machina
Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 10, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
36
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 24, 2015
A riveting sci-fi investigation into humankind's experiments with A.I. (with pages from Spike Jonze's Her and Stanley Kubrick's 2001), Ex Machina marks the extremely able directing debut of British writer Alex Garland, of the novels "The Beach" and "The Tesseract," and of the screenplays for Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" . . . and "Sunshine." Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 9, 2015
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. But even saying that doesn't do this quietly unnerving film full justice. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 9, 2015
Sizzlingly smart and agreeably sententious, Mr. Garland’s film transcends some all-too-human imperfections with gorgeous images, astute writing and memorably strong performances. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzApr 9, 2015
A rare and welcome exception to that norm. Read full review
100
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonJan 21, 2015
The picture is a triumph: it's arguably Garland’s tightest and most fascinating screenplay to date, brought to life with meticulous filmmaking and sensational performances. It's the first great film of 2015. Read full review
100
Total FilmRosie FletcherJan 20, 2015
It plays like Frankenstein meets Blade Runner via Hitchcock haunted by the ghosts of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, in a film that’s both highly literate and steeped in tense cat-and-mouse chills. Thematically epic – it demands to be seen at least twice and should fuel hours of debate — structurally it’s as lithe as Ava’s perfect mesh frame. Read full review
91
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 23, 2015
Garland's original screenplay brims with intelligence, unafraid to let characters speak over our heads. Yet it remains a pulpy delight, due largely to its uniquely mad scientist. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanApr 17, 2015
To dismiss Ex Machina as just another robot movie would be like calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground. It's one of the most original, smart, thought-provoking science fiction movies of recent years. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 23, 2015
It's great when a movie messes with your head. And Ex Machina, screenwriter Alex Garland's directorial debut, does just that, pretty much from start to finish. The writer of "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine" purports to examine A.I., or artificial intelligence. What he's really after is something at once more exotic and more relatable — and infinitely less predictable: human nature. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 9, 2015
[Mr. Garland] plays with visual contrasts — Mr. Isaac’s compact, muscled body and Mr. Gleeson’s long, drooping one, picture windows that look out onto an expansively lush landscape and windowless rooms that register as upmarket prison cells — that dovetail with the narrative’s multiple, amusingly deployed dualities: confinement and liberation, agency and submission, mind and body. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 23, 2015
With a stellar cast and seductive look, Ex Machina is a sleek contraption for capturing our imagination. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 16, 2015
If you’re going to go all-in with the gorgeous and chilling and sometimes ludicrous Ex Machina, if you’re going to buy into the lofty debates and the wiggy humor and the borderline misogynistic notion of the perfect woman, you’ll have to check your logic at the ticket counter. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 16, 2015
With Ex Machina, Garland makes an impressive debut as a director, spinning an unsettling futuristic thriller with the expertise and exquisite taste of a seasoned veteran. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 9, 2015
Alex Garland, the screenwriter of "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine," makes an auspicious directorial debut with this suspenseful mystery. Read full review
83
IndieWireKaleem AftabJan 21, 2015
The director ensures this chamber piece of moral conundrums never seems too heavy-handed; his fluids camera roams through each room so that at no time does the theatrical set-up feel like a limitation. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonApr 7, 2015
It's a smart film about the shrinking divide between man and robot. It's also a hoot, an anti-comedy where all of the jokes double as threats, and vice versa. Read full review
80
CineVueCraig WilliamsJan 21, 2015
Ex Machina exposes the insecurity of the male ego by showing his lust for creation as simply another strand in the patriarchal power game. The film's trajectory forms a thrilling, exciting corrective. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 21, 2015
This is bewitchingly smart science fiction of a type that’s all too rare. Its intelligence is anything but artificial. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinJan 19, 2015
Stylish, elegant, tense, cerebral, satirical and creepy. Garland’s directorial debut is his best work yet, while Vikander’s bold performance will short your circuits. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeJan 16, 2015
Ex Machina turns out to be far wittier and more sensual than its coolly unblemished exterior implies; it’s a trick that mirrors Ava’s own apparent Turing-test-defying evolution. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 15, 2015
A rattling and ruminative piece of speculative fiction, Ex Machina is good enough to wish it were even better. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyApr 23, 2015
Ex Machina is a clever film with one indelible performance from Isaac. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezApr 23, 2015
The fact that Garland manages to cram in speculative ideas about the perils of a society that relies too heavily on technology is a bonus. In Ex Machina, love hurts, big time, for man and machine alike. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 16, 2015
A sci-fi movie that actually has intelligent things to say about science — that’s all too rare. It’s what we get in Ex Machina. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 16, 2015
A note of paranoia creeps in that nods to classic film noir on one hand and baroque misogyny on the other. Or maybe this is just Garland’s dank idea of what men do when they’re left to their own devices: Create dream mates from the flayed skin of their fantasies. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 16, 2015
In the final analysis, the movie doesn't offer much about the subject that hasn't been previously explored, but the soil is fertile and many ideas germinate. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 16, 2015
Alas, the movie cannot resolve its story in any sort of surprising or truly fresh way. Where's a good old-fashioned deus ex machina capper when you need it? It's worth seeing nonetheless. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 9, 2015
Isaac's brilliant take on this bearded, buzz-cut and barefoot Dr. Frankenstein is a tour de force of shock and awe. Ex Machina springs surprises that will haunt you for a good long time. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 9, 2015
Ex Machina is beautiful and ominous and features another delicately nuanced performance from Isaac, who’s quickly making a habit of them. But in the end, for all of Garland’s ambition, his reach winds up exceeding his grasp. The film is as synthetic as Ava. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 9, 2015
Ex Machina is an “Island of Dr. Moreau” for the singularity era. It’s a cerebral, chilling and austere thriller that stokes our fears about digital privacy and artificial intelligence, a film that works largely thanks to a breakout mechanically empathetic turn by Alicia Vikander (“A Royal Affair,””Seventh Son”). Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 9, 2015
Clever novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland makes a half-dandy directorial debut with Ex Machina, a sci-fi film that — like much of his work — fakes excitingly in the direction of breaking new ground before turning formulaic so fast. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonApr 9, 2015
None of Ex Machina’s broad strokes are surprising: The story falls out so predictably at every stage that it can be frustrating. It’s the details that are surprising, and purposefully alarming. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneApr 6, 2015
In the end, Ex Machina lives and dies by Alicia Vikander. The film clicks on when she first appears, and it dims every time she goes away. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyApr 8, 2015
Make no mistake, this is a film of ideas—sadder, quieter, more delicate than the Hollywood sci-fi standard. Read full review
65
TheWrapInkoo KangApr 9, 2015
A chilly, yet engrossing drama, elevated beyond its four-people-locked-in-a-house framework by the eerie beauty of the production design and the thoughtful curiosity of Garland’s screenplay. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithApr 8, 2015
Ex Machina offers plenty of intriguing style but a spotty story line. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 24, 2015
It's a theme Mary Shelley brought us in "Frankenstein," which was first published in 1818. That was almost 200 years ago. 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. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 9, 2015
This exquisitely acted, genuinely creepy minimalist drama does spin its wheels a bit before a cool conclusion. But the movie has a spark of creativity not seen in “Chappie” or “Eva,” two of the recent robots-among-us flicks. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 25, 2015
With a sly dreaminess, Vikander steals the movie from the two males. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonJan 20, 2015
Vikander’s spellbinding, not-quite-human presence (her synthetic skin is silky yet creepy) keeps us watching. But an only-too-obvious ‘twist’ and some clunky plotting...drain much of the credibility from a story which promised so much. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonJan 16, 2015
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. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezMar 19, 2015
In the end, more than just the machine remains an enigma. Read full review
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