When 26-year-old computer programmer Caleb wins his company’s lottery to spend a week at the estate of eccentric billionaire search engine CTO Nathan (Oscar Isaac), he doesn’t know what to expect. Caleb soon discovers that his employer wants him to be the human component of a Turing Test—a concept first proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 as a way to determine if a machine can think like a human, and fool a human into believing they are interacting with another human. Nathan’s latest project is an incredibly lifelike robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander), and he has brought Caleb to his home to conduct a series of interviews with Ava in order to assess her ability to pass as human.

Nathan’s estate is expansive—while the building is amidst the natural beauty of trees, rocks and a waterfall, the inside of the building is much more stark and clinical. Everything is locked down, and a keycard is required to access each room. Below the surface is a massive underground lab where Nathan has been conducting his research and experiments. This is where Ava spends her days, confined to a glass-walled, windowless room. From the moment Caleb first sees Ava, he is drawn to her—it’s almost as though she was created specifically with his idea of the perfect woman in mind. However, something doesn’t seem quite right. He notices that the walls that surround her are cracked, as though someone (or something) tried to smash them. And Nathan has placed cameras throughout the facility to capture everything that happens.

Shortly after the first session with Ava, there is a sudden power-outage and Caleb finds himself locked in his room until the generator is restored. This leaves Caleb with a bit of an uneasy feeling, but Nathan assures him that he is looking into this recent rash of power outages. During Caleb’s second interview with Ava, she is answering a question when the power cuts out again. The lights go out and the cameras shut off, and Ava stops herself mid-sentence, turns towards Caleb and tells him that Nathan is a bad man, that he’s not his friend, and that Caleb shouldn’t trust him or anything he says. Just as Caleb is about to respond, the lights are restored and Ava continues to answer the original question like nothing happened.

Caleb is unsure what just happened, but starts to secretly explore what’s really going on with his employer. He starts to doubt the reasons for his being there, and even questions his very own existence.
 

Ex Machina is a well done, suspenseful thriller. There is a fascinating psychological game going on between the three main characters. Caleb thinks he is covertly discovering what is really going at the facility, but his increasing obsession with Ava may be clouding his judgement. Meanwhile, with his pompous attitude and ego, Nathan constantly believes he is one step ahead of everyone, though that may not actually be the case—Ava may be the one who’s really in control, manipulating the situation for her own gain. The result is an interesting tale that explores what it means to be human, and how ego and pride can lead to one’s downfall.

While this idea of AI growing to be sentient has done before, this story still feels unique. It has the viewer constantly questioning who can be trusted, who is really in charge, and what will happen next. The special effects are extremely well done—it’s kind of amazing that no green screens were used in the production—you can see through the bodies of the robots, it looks so realistic as Ava applies or removes her skin, and her reflections in the ever-present glass walls always look proper and realistic.

The cast is fantastic. Alicia Vikander makes you totally believe that Ava is an android and not just an actress playing a role. Oscar Isaac is like a chameleon—he always looks completely different from one role to the next—and he really transforms into this arrogant, eccentric tech billionaire. Finally, Domhnall Gleeson perfectly delivers on Caleb’s mix of innocence, naivety and curiosity.

The 4K video presentation is practically immaculate. The colors are brighter and more vibrant than the Blu-ray counterpart (which already looked fantastic). This makes for some really stunning scenes—the natural green landscape of Nathan’s estate, the orangy glow of a darker dinner scene, and even the clinical grey concrete and white glass walls of the research facility all see slight improvements. There is also more detail overall—the texture of Ava’s suit and her complex inner-circuitry, as well as textures on walls, speaker grates and fabrics.

The 4K UHD disc contains the same stellar DTS:X audio track that appeared on the previous Blu-ray release. As Caleb arrives at the estate, the helicopter flying off can be heard in the overhead channel, and there is also this immersive experience of birds chirping and other nature sounds surrounding the listener. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the film’s reverberating, echoey soundtrack sounds fantastic, especially the techno synth music during the final act.

There were no new bonus material created specifically for this release, and none of the previous bonus material is included on the 4K UHD disc. This release includes the original 2015 Blu-ray disc, which contains a nice assortment of supplemental material—a 40-minute 5-part Making Of featureette, an hour-long SXSW Q&A panel with the cast/crew and 28-minutes of behind-the-scenes vignettes.

The discs are packed in standard eco UHD keepcase with a rounded-corner slipcover. The case also contains an insert with a code to redeem for an UltraViolet digital copy of the film. At the time of this review, Vudu was the only redemption option, and it did not offer the title in 4K UHD format.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:48:15)

4K Ultra HD:

• 2160p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• HDR
• Audio: English DTS:X Audio, DTS Headphone:X Audio, English 5.1 Theatrical DTS Digital Surround
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS:X Audio, DTS Headphone:X Audio, English 5.1 Theatrical DTS Digital Surround
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanis

Digital HD (Redemption Deadline 6/6/2018):

• Digital HD copy redeemable via Vudu

Extras:
The 4K UHD disc does not include any supplemental material. The included Blu-ray is exactly the same as the original 2015 release, and includes all of the same bonus features.

• Through the Looking Glass: Creating Ex Machina (39:59)
  This 5-part making-of featurette includes behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast/crew—director/screenwriter Alex Garland, producers Andrew Macdonald & Allon Reich, production designer Mark Digby, director of photography Rob Hardy, costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ, make-up & hair designer Sian Grigg, visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst, and actors Domhnall Gleeson (“Caleb”), Oscar Isaac (“Nathan”), Alicia Vikander (“Ava”) & Sonoya Mizuno (“Kyoko”). The segments include:
  • Provenance: Session 1 – A look at the premise of the film, the state of technology, and how close we are to this today
  • An AI and An I: Session 2 – A look at the casting, cast and characters
  • Nature or Nurture: Session 3 – A look at the set design, set decoration and finding the right locations
  • Misdirection: Session 4 – A look at the costumes and make-up
  • Metamorphosis: Session 5 – A look at the visual effects and determining how robotic Ava should look
• SXSW Q&A with Cast and Crew (1:00:57)
  The entire 2015 SXSW panel for the film. Recorded Sunday March 15, 2015, the Q&A is moderated by TechCrunch reporter Jordan Crook, and the panelists include director/writer Alex Garland, director of photography Rob Hardy, actor Oscar Isaac, and composers Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury.
• Behind the Scenes Vignettes (28:40)
  Collection of eight short interviews with the cast/creators. Some of the segments include footage that already appears in the first behind-the-scenes featurette. Play All or select from:
  • Making Ava (3:38) – A look at the designing Ava, from sketch to realization
  • Nathan’s World (3:34) – A look at the designing Nathan’s complex
  • New Consciousness (3:07) – A discussion about whether or not Ava has consciousness
  • Becoming Ava (3:16) – A discussion about the actress behind the robot
  • Director (3:09) – A discussion about the vision of the director
  • Cast (3:15) – A discussion about the actors
  • Meet Ava (2:35) – A discussion about the character of a Ava
  • God Complex (2:53) – A discussion about the character of Nathan
  • Music (3:09) – A discussion about the film’s score
• Trailers (9:12)
  Trailers for “Maggie”, “Cut Bank”, “A Most Violent Year” and “Under the Skin”.
• Oscar Isaac Dance Scene (Easter Egg)
  This Easter Egg is listed in the press release, but I’ve been unable to find a way to access it.

Final Thoughts:

Ex Machina is a well crafted, well-acted, suspenseful thriller. The 4K UHD release provides an uptick on the detail and color pallete from the previous Blu-ray release while porting the same fantastic audio presentation. While there are no new bonus features on this release, the set includes the previously-released Blu-ray disc with over 2 hours of supplemental features. This film is definitely worth checking out, and this is the version to pick up if you don’t already own a copy of the film!