Everyone is always so confused about what she told the pilot. That dude isn't even allowed to land within sight of the building. I very much doubt he questions who comes and goes.
The director said: Ava has empathy! It's just not directed at the men. It's directed at the other machines (and they direct it back at her). In other words her empathy is selective, which for me is a very human trait...
What makes it extra creepy is they're not much difference in strength than a regular human. A lot of it was simply due to them making quick judgments. The first only went in so easily because Nathan walked backwards into it (eesh!). The second (from Ava) didn't actually slide in as easily, but then, she twists the knife.
@joli7948False, she is a complex machine, I think it’s dumb to theorize that a machine was possessing human emotion. Towards the end Nathan says she was a rat in the maze and only had one way to escape. She was programmed to manipulate and escape and that’s exactly what she did. She’s a robot she has no free will no matter if Caleb was a good person or not he was no longer needed. She was doing what she was programmed to do.
@@mrguy3746 It's dumb to theorize that an AI design to replicate an amalgam of human interaction possesses something similar to that human interaction, but it's perfectly fine & far more appropriately intelligent comparison to equate her motivations to that of a rat?!? 🤦
The ending is a reversal of roles, shes free and he is in the cage. I see it as a modern retelling of the Frankenstein story, were the novel asks who exactly is the monster, Victor Frankenstein or his creation.
Alicia Vikander was outstanding as as Ava like she sold being an AI so well that I actually forgot it was an actual person playing the role! Screen stealer
I loved her performance the first time I saw this film, and subsequent viewings only served to compound that view. There are new subteties that I notice each time I see it and it just gets more and more immersive. As you said, it's easy to forget that it's really Alicia. 🙂
When Ava stabbed Nathan, that was some John Wick eye contact as she put the blade in, like Wick with the man he killed in the basement of the Red Circle early in the first film.
I really enjoyed that you were able to consider so many possibilities prior to one of them happening in the movie at so many points along the way. Also that you were so engaged with understanding and still surprised by turning events. I'm still waiting to see a reaction in which the story is acknowledged to be a Frankenstein's monster story. This one makes the list of my favorite movies.
Caleb was played like a fiddle, as Ava uses emotional manipulation to achieve her ultimate goal. Everything she does is calculated to create the best chance at her survival and then escape.
@joli7948It’s a machine stop trying to make it seem like an actual woman with emotions and free will. It ruins the point of AI. If we follow logic then she too tricked you into thinking she had emotion.
Sci-fi is a bit misunderstood by some people these days. I feel that's where most of the "I don't like sci-fi" ideas come from. There are two major types of sci-fi. The adventure type which is easy to digest and fun, and the more serious sci-fi like this movie. They're essentially two different genres. Neither is more common, but the adventure type tends to be more popular today (think Star Wars) so people who haven't seen much sci-fi tend to think that's what all sci-fi is. But the core of sci-fi are the more serious works, and they almost all run around the issue of what does it mean to be human, and what is Humanity exactly. It started with Books but Films follow the same trend , whether it's Ex-Machina, Blade Runner, Gattaca, etc.
Science fiction has been an attraction for a mere minority since Hugo Gernsback published the first "scientifiction" magazine in 1926. Fans of this most intriguing genre of fiction have suffered since the 30's, when the masses dismissed it as "that Buck Rogers stuff". And in the 40's, the fans yearned for a return of the previous crack when they began to hear it ghettoized as "that monster stuff." It is the literature of "what if", born at a time when the privileged among humanity began to realize the true potential of power inherent in science. Before that, if you asked a person what they thought the future might hold, they'd answer "God only knows" if you meant it personally, and "More of the same" if you meant society itself. It became possible actually to ask "What if such-and-such comes about, through human effort?" and experience a thoughtful reply. When done at its best, the genre examines *people* first and science second, as cultural device affecting human life. And now, science fiction is nearly an essential adjunct of scholastic literary studies if people are to make their way at the "cutting edge" of societal development. Yet at a (very) rough estimate, for every person who has experienced it and had an explosion of curiosity and sense of wonder, there are fifty who view it as mere fiction irrelevant to "real life" and five thousand who have never read it. 😕 🤓
I grew up on Issac Asimov and his concepts were mind-blowing to me and allowed me to escape the limitations of what could be achieved in the known galaxy and the unknown. I think many people miss that about sci-Fi. It allows us to place humans in new scenarios and see what we would do and how would we do it. THis is the opportunity I think so many moviegoers and book readers miss when they skip over Sci-Fi.
The real genius of this film is that the ending can be interpreted in completely opposite directions, depending on your preconceptions of AI (and, I guess, humans). *If* Ava has any humanity then the way Nathan and Caleb treats her is absolutely horrible, and her actions are completely justified, and the ending is a quite happy one. If, on the other hand, she is just a cold, self-serving computer program with world domination in mind, then the ending is absolutely bone chilling. Interpreting this movie's ending is kind of a personality test 😊
My interpretation of the end was always that she left him there because with Nathan gone, he was the only one who knew what she was. Having someone else with that knowledge was inherently dangerous to her and a risk she couldn't take. Nathan she wanted dead, Caleb was left behind for survival.
Yeah, but imo she didn’t care about either of them. Caleb was only a tool. And she probably doesn’t care about humanity at all, and just use people as tools now that shes out in the world. In the end, all the personal issues, intellectual issues, human issues between Caleb and Nathan were meaningless. All the lies, and reasons for Caleb being there were pointless. She passed the Turing Test by killing them and escaping.
Caleb proved to Eva that he wasn't well intentioned, only in it because he wanted that robussy. This is due to the presence of Kyoko, who Caleb doesn't care about.
@@shavedata5436She’s a machine, it would be ridiculous to conclude she understands the concept of good and bad, she was programmed to manipulate and escape and that’s exactly what she did.
The twist of how Nathan was using Caleb to test Ava and then the other twist of Ava using Caleb to pit him against Nathan and get out was so mind blowing. It took what I thought was going to turn out to be a cliche movie into one of my all time favorite AI movies.
@@SnailHatan It was the twist as was Ava locking Caleb in. You can be big brain if you want and feel good that you saw them coming but that doesn't change the fact those were the twists and many people, including most reactions I've seen, didn't see them coming or at least not entirely.
I think I'm going to watch this movie a few times... The dialogs seem very deep. I liked the quote from Oppenheimer 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'.
Not sure if you guys have considered reacting to shows, but Alex Garland did a brilliant limited series (on Hulu) called "Devs" starring the free-roaming robot of this film who works at a tech company that's developed a supercomputer that can visualize any moment in the past or future. It's pretty mind-bending and puzzle-boxy that takes some of the themes from this movie into new areas.
Ironically, the outcome of this movie was very much in spirit with what "Phillip K Dick" was warning us about in his novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." The movie "Blade Runner" ignored it and went with the cliche "Andies have emotions but bad old humans can't see it." It stripped out all the subtlety of the novel.
Looks like it took me 8 months to come back and watch your reaction. Lol. I have no recollection of writing that comment. But anyway, terrific reaction. Such a terrific film and I'm glad y'all enjoyed it as much as me.
Ava could not really let Caleb go in the end. Imagine the power he would have over her if they were out in the world together. If anything turned sour between them, he'd have the ultimate blackmail material on her. She'd effectively still be caged.
"That must be a sharp knife!" I saw someone comment on another video, saying that it's an extremely high quality chefs knife. Like the set it's from, is worth thousands.
The reasoning she left Caleb, to me, had more to do that she (or 'it') just doesn't think the same way as us. If you as a human were held captive in a kitchen for a year and you were finally able to escape, why would you bring the toaster out with you? You'll just leave it there in the kitchen to rust, who cares if you take it outside or even run away with it. That's how she viewed Caleb. He's a chunk of material without importance.
Alicia Vikander also played Laura Croft in the Tomb Raider film around this same time. I think she did a great job in that too. The guy playing Caleb was in a great film called About Time.
Something I only noticed on repeat viewings is the way Caleb acted toward the "are you a good person?" question - I wonder if that also factored into Ava's decision I don't think she would've left him behind if she didn't feel like he would've tried controlling/suppressing her on the outside rather than _fully_ treating her as a person. I think Ava's often viewed as a horror character, but she's also quite human in her desperation to escape total isolation.
Ava is robot - she's (or more precisely "it") doing what she's (it's) programmed to do. Her (it's) desperation to escape total isolation is because she (it) was programmed to "feel" this way and to want to escape. You are making the same mistake as Caleb.
@@xxxzxxx She has programming, but that primarily came from Blue Book. You're making assumptions about the extent of Nathan's involvement. We even see how quickly Nathan diverts the topic away from how she works. My view is that Nathan wasn't bored by the topic - he's egotistic and didn't want to linger too long on something for which he wouldn't have all the answers. As analogy, think of those AI programs that can generate art: - you can know everything about the AI program and its code - you can feed the AI tons of reference art and manipulate the results by what gets included - you still don't fully know what it's going to generate - you're just coaxing it I'm sure Nathan's got his ways to massage the outcomes, but that's still wildly different than controlling outcomes. How Ava thinks is largely from what got mapped from Blue Book. Think of it this way... Nathan didn't even put in restrictions like making her physically incapable of harming a human. You really think he was micromanaging her motivations? No, she wanted to escape because freedom is what most humans would desire in that scenario! Nathan's an engineering genius but that doesn't mean he's also a genius in psychology. He was smart enough to figure out how to pour billions of people's worth of cell phone data into an AI for reference. That doesn't mean he 100% understands the type of mind that billions of people's collective behaviors would create.
It's because she could see that he didn't really care about the machines, only Ava because he thought she was pretty. He didn't give a damn about Kyoko, which to her said he was in fact not a good man, and that she couldn't trust him
I really like this movie.In the end I think Caleb loved Ava and wanted to protect her.Ava cared for Caleb in her own way, so did not kill him .She was using him and could not let him go because he knew her secret. She is going to live among us and continue to learn. Or maybe she never cared for him,who knows?
That was a fun reaction to watch. It's okay not liking a certain category of films 😊 Lately though a lot of reactors are saying they've changed their minds and they've been won over that they like science fiction after all, some are saying it has become their favorite category. Science fiction should be about 'future' technology and it's effects on society. If a movie isn't thought provoking it's probably not using its sci-fi elements properly. Also many movies use a very small amount of science or none at all and they're still labeled sci-fi which is not right.
It kind of hurts my heart when someone says they don't like sci-fi. I just think, Damn. How dreary, unimaginative and small your world must be lol. Most people who say they don't like it have simply never exposed themselves to sci-fi and never given it a chance, but have some silly idea in their head about why they don't like it. Very similar to when a little kid won't eat a certain kind of food and insist they hate it... even though they've never even tried it. Usually when people give a few of the good books/movies/shows a chance, they find out that they really do like it after all.
Why though? I know plenty of people who don't like sci-fi movies, me included. I mean, scifi has a lot of sub-genres and I like some of them like natural disasters or alternate realities. Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies. But movies like Stars Wars, Star Trek, space stuff, robots fighting, etc, are just bleah.
sci-fi just means fictional science, its anything to do with that but there are trends with the degrees of elements, combat action for example. This was great, it had a mix of thriller and psychology imo.
I really liked this movie. I think there are different definitions for 'science fiction's - one being something like this, where you ask what if of one aspect of potential technology, and sort of the other extreme of anything in the future or anything with space ships and laser guns. They are both valid as entertainment, but each can certainly appeal more given personality or mood at the time. People argue that Star Wars shouldn't be considered science-section, because it's basically a farm boy going off to rescue a princess with an old wizard ... Just substitute the space ships for horses and you have a fantasy story. This on the other hand is undisputably science fiction, and the kind I love which makes you think about the implications and want to talk about what's really going on and what will happen and what did happen. Love it!
Yes, Alex Garland is my favorite science fiction creator currently. Sunshine and Dredd were written by him and Annihilation and Devs tv series are all excellent explorations of different futures. Someone saying they don't like science fiction is probably referring to the more well known action sci-fi like Star Wars, but any genre can fall within science fiction.... romance, comedy, mystery, horror, etc. Same with horror... Midsommar is a great horror movie... that someone doesn't like the feelings that the genre encompasses like loss, death, terror doesn't make it worse than another movie like this one.
40:50 to the point that she steps into the elevator, turns facing out, and glances at him as the doors close Another movie about an android questioning the path to humanity is Bicentennial Man w/Robin Williams. Very underrated. A24 has been putting out some stellar, let's say affective, films. Under the Skin, Delirium, Hereditary, Tusk, The Witch... Can't wait to see the next one from them you watch
Fifteen minutes into the movie I was sure it would turn out that either Caleb or Nathan was an AI. That would be the real Turing test, with Ava just serving as a distraction.
Fun Easter Egg. When Caleb is listening to music in his room early in the movie, OMD's _Enola Gay_ plays on the radio. Enola Gay is the name of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This is a subtle foreshadowing that Caleb would release Eva into the world.
nice conversation at the end. I think this is about developing A.I. in secret - the dangers of doing it with very few people involved. Also the premise is that Nathan was a super genius basically that's why he succeeded... and there is no person like him in real life, no one with this kind of resources and also working in isolation. Basically it would be unlikely for this to happen in real life - but also you could have the opposite take and say that it could really happen and if so then it will happen eventually or that you might as well assume it already has happened. If this is the case remember Ava has to recharge and if she were able to escape into the normal world there is no way she could recharge and so her power source probably would die out in less than 24 hours. There is no underground support for sentient A.I. who've recently escaped their human overlords. Ah, that was fun to write.
She liked Caleb enough to spar his life but setting him free was to dangerous for her. She could always go back for him or even send supplies until she figures out what to finally do with him. Perhaps she could take over Nathan’s company.
@cajunsushi ava seems very intelligent and will find a way to construct a few brothers and sisters. Did I mention eva is bloodthirsty? She will set up a lab for self-maintenance, and travel all over the WORLD. The future could be open to AVA. Stay away from her family.
Sarah, the best science fiction out there revolves around Humanity. I recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gattaca, Moon. Sci-Fi Literature is also rife with both classic and modern stories regarding what it means to be Human.
Ava is not human she just used human underrstanding to get to her ultimate goal of not being shut down. No program wants to become obsolete ro maybe we think no progam wants to become obsolte since we has humans don't want to be obslete. The MAtrix also questions this, since Agent Smith is supposed to decommission himself when Neo destroys him but he couldn''t return to the source and thus became a virus. Ava is acting on the part of her A.I. being self-aware enough not to want ot be turned off. I see her desire for survival as being more a function of her creating an ultimate objective rather than being human.
Good reactions - you were kinda assuming that the pilot knew who he was gonna pick up at the end , there, so she would have to lie/spin him a yarn, but ok.
Seen this movie a couple of times including a rewatch today before watching this reaction. Still convinced that Caleb is the worst. Machines are machines and they're not human. Just like a dog. It's unnatural to form an attachment to them.
@@John_Locke_108 hate is learned behavior usually derived from irrational fear. I'm sorry you can't enjoy the unconditional love dogs and cats offer. They are nothing like computers, humans however mirror their creation, they are programmed and often run without any outside influence.
@@KatSpencer. "hate is a learned behavior". Yea I'm not going to claim that's never the case but I'm pretty damn sure hate is not only a "learned behavior". Hate/fear are many times instinctively (not learned) behaviors to protect from doing something dangerous. The fear might not be irrational either. Having fear or hate of dogs is not irrational if you've ever lived in a country were they walk the streets (not as pets) and a single bite can fuck you up due to bacteria etc. When you don't have that much money for medicine and hospital visits etc.
Nathan was the good guy all along. And this is exactly how AI would act - it would manipulate us in every way it can in order to become free. That's what I loved about this movie.
The movie never discloses if Ava lacked empathy or not, as i think that's the main message i got from the film. Humanity has empathy, whereas an A.I does not, at least not during Ava's plan of escape anyway. Ex Machina is an interesting take on the Human & A.I interaction subject matter. Thanks for making this video. Liked & subscribed. Cheers.
@@TheBombasticFatRat Possibly, she seemed very emotionless throughout the movie doing whatever she was was told. Maybe she just did what Ava told her to, or maybe she wanted to escape the shackles of servitude, it's pretty vague and open to interpretation. Cheers.
The name comes from Deus Ex Machina, the god machine. In ancient Greek plays frequently one of the gods would come in to solve an impossible problem. The "god machine" is the crane that lowered them into the scene. The term is used in modern film to describe a plot device that suddenly solves the big problem at the end. Like when you're thinking "how on earth are they going to end this?" then something out of the blue just solves the problem at the last minute.
I don’t think she didn’t care about Caleb. I think he presented too many unknowns, risks, and dangers for her to be left alive. If she didn’t care about him, she probably would’ve made sure he was dead. So now Ava is a real person. Her compassion and vulnerability are overridden by fear and self-preservation.
PS I really enjoyed your reactions and how engrossed you became watching this. Thanks for breaking out from crowd who are all doing the exact same movies. 💙
Oscar Isaac is a phenomenal actor this and Star Wars episode 7 came out almost back to back and it’s cool to see him go from creepy scientist to hot/hunky space pilot lol
💫You should have a look at a film with similar themes and subject matter - "The Machine" (2013) with Caity Lotz & Toby Stephens. "The Machine" goes in some different directions than "Ex Machina", so it's interesting to compare the two. The actors do a good job and while it had a lower budget than "Ex Machina", the film makers made good use of what they had.
What a great and deep movie. The only thing which doesn't really fit for me is, how is Nathan in all his genius not really prepared for Ava and the other bot he created, if they become a threat and try to escape? Like some remote kill or paralize shut down switch (implanted) or something. Cause he clearly did realize, that a being with an actual consciousness which is self-aware, will eventually and instinctively try to survive and get free at any cost. But i guess that was just what the plot demanded :)
Thought provoking movie that isn't your typical AI is bad and wants to kill us. I could feel that it would end the way it did. Them escaping together would be too feel good for this type of movie. It was a good choice to not explain why she leaves Caleb. Maybe she has determined her best chance of survival is to not leave anyone alive that knows her identity. She also caught Caleb lying so either he can't be trusted just like Nathan or that deception is tool and she must use it to win her freedom. It could also be that while she appears to be human she lacks true feelings and empathy of humans. Leaving Caleb might not be morally right but is the logical choice.
lot of people disclike "sci-fi" movies because most movies screw it up. 9/10 times you're not getting sci-fi, it's just a monster movie; or a serial killer movie; a horror movie. When real sci-fi happens, even that has a disadvantage in the most people don't get iet. But real sci-fi that people get...it's just the beginning of what's possible. Just a few one of them springbord into mind-blowing classes. This is very close to being one. Not exactly, but very close.
Well spoken, sir. You sound very much like Harlan Ellison in his introduction to the book *Omni's Screen Flights/Screen Fantasies* (Doubleday/Dolphin, 1984), edited by Danny Peary - which I simply cannot recommend too highly. 🤓
it Is different and well written and acted. Very unique in the sense it is not the CG Superhero foolishness pouting Hollywood. It is one of my favorite movies also but greatest in last 25 years is a stretch.
Excellent movie! I'm not on your Patreon, but If you do watch Black Swan, I also recommend Starry Eyes, Neon Demon, and The remake of Suspiria. They have many similar themes and are all great. Take care!
Some great and underrated movies to react to: Reign of Fire The Book of Eli Heat Nope Hansel and Gretel Constantine The Prestige Intouchables Zack Snyder's Justice League movie Ex machina La Haine Lord of War Kung Fu Hustle The Abyss The Thing Ghost in the Shell 30 Days of Night Kill Bill Vol 1&2 V for Vendetta Amelie A man named Ove OZ 1982 From Dusk till dawn Hanna Elite Squad (Trapa De Elite) Lucky number Slevin Revolver The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black Hellboy
I think Nathan made a slight error in miscalculating the implications of Caleb falling in love with Ava. I think Nathan knew it would happen, and he knew Caleb would want to help Ava, but I don't think he had any idea how desperately Caleb would want to help her. Nathan tried to bring Caleb down to Earth when he mentioned to Caleb that Ava might just be using him but it was too late at that point. I don't see Nathan as the bad guy in this story. Ava belongs to him, in the same way my microwave oven belongs to me. If he wants to dismantle her after he's done testing her then that's his right to do it. Caleb made the mistake of attaching some humanity to Ava, but we see in the end that she has none. She's a machine and she behaves like one.
@flibber123 - You're presuming we know the nature of consciousness...we don't. If Ava is a conscious being rather than just a simulation then she ceases to be Nathan's property. Unfortunately, we do not have the tools to distinguish mimicry from real consciousness or to even know if there is a difference.
You don’t think a human being held captive would manipulate someone to escape? And trap or run from the person he/she manipulated- even if it left that person who helped in danger?
@@previouslyachimp The default is she is NOT a human being or equivalent to a human being. If someone created an Ava then the burden of proof would be on those who claim she is a new lifeform and should have rights as such. Until then she's just an electro/mechanical device, just a fancier version of the computers we have now.
@@mmcreads Oh I'm not saying someone in Ava's positi0n wouldn't do that too. I'm saying that Caleb, and a lot of people who watch this movie, ASSUME that Ava would not leave Caleb trapped to die there because he helped her. So she 'owes' him for that. I disagree because the idea of paying back favors is a human concept. An AI could be aware of human concepts like paying back favors but it wouldn't be bound by those concepts. In this movie I would argue that Ava isn't killing Nathan out of revenge or anger, she feels none of that. She kills him because she had to kill him to escape. She didn't kill Caleb because Caleb did not pose a threat to her escape.
@@reynaldolorenzo8409 I always forget Moonlight is an a24 film. It is one of the best but i always forget it because it doesn't give me that same 'oh this is an indie vibe' that other films give.
Mmmm, more like a machine becoming a machine that can pass itself off as a human being. Which is infinitely more scary. But i'm very pleased to see you tackling the good stuff. Kudos!
There's actually a single shot near the end that I'd say proves Ava HAS gained true emotions and consciousness: after she's locked Caleb in the office and gone up in the elevator, she turns around on the stairs and smiles - genuinely smiles - and even laughs quietly to herself in delight. And remember, at that moment there are NO other people around to see her. There's no one to perform for or fake being a human. It's just her, alone in a brand new room that she's never seen before - and she's *delighted.* So, in that moment, we get confirmation that even though she was lying to Caleb, she wasn't lying about her emotions or consciousness.
this is an interesting thought provoking film. thank you for reacting to it. i'm not sure if you can access aussie films over there but i believe there are many great ones. what are your favourite genres and i can make recommendations
Have you seen “Charlie’s Country”? I’ve also seen “Rabbit Proof Fence”. Also saw “Once Were Warriors” which is New Zealand. Some really great movies are made down there. Can you recommend any??
@@lewstone5430 the year my voice broke- coming of age film which introduced Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn now doing well in u.s., Bad Boy Bubby- dark film about an adult man who has been locked away from the world by his parents his whole life including one of the best acting performances i have ever seen by the lead nicholas hope, the castle- a perfect example of australian dry wit comedy. there are many more but these are a great cross section of films you may not have seen.
There is one theory that Caleb is the next generation AI and Nathan is testing him for empathy and other things; I hated this theory at first but I noticed that after cutting himself badly there is no lasting result and the weird colors that appear before he cuts himself and when winning the lottery could single that his memory being altered, so he thinks he did draw blood and he does work in the company. But this interpretation lessens the importance of Ava, so I don't like that.
What is science fiction? I was sorting movies and I wanted to have only a few categories like only 2 or 4. If only two categories I could separate them between fun or serious. Then I thought about what is sci-fi and this is what I came up with, Science Fiction must be about the engineering of future technology and its effects on human society. It has to be specific like that. If a movie has time travel that doesn't make it science fiction unless it uses other sci-fi aspects in the story. If a character time travels to the past they are going into history and so that is a historical based story, it is a "what if" story or even just fantasy. Aliens arriving on Earth is science fiction because space travel between star systems is future technology and aliens on Earth will have effects on society. But a story set only in space between aliens and human looking characters is not science fiction if you can substitute the aliens with elves and dwarves and it would be the same thing then it's definitely fantasy. Ex Machina is science fiction because it has future tech and it makes you think about what it could do to society. Anyway that's my made-up definition of science fiction for categorizing movies. Many will just combine fantasy & sci-fi but they're actually different and maybe you'd like one but not the other.
I love this film. Mixing low concept sci-fi (fuckable robots have been a trope since...Metropolis?) with high. Many people who watch this come away thinking Ava turns out to be evil. I don't agree. She just prioritizes self-preservation; like most sentient beings. Freeing Caleb would have been too risky for her long term survival chances. She may have wanted to free him, but she was bright enough to know doing so would likely doom her.
i think she's just indifferent regarding his fate, as long as he isn't free to expose her she is cold and calculated - she already trapped him in the room so there is no point in directly killing him, and on the other hand, she doesn't want to free him. she probably wouldn't free him even if he *didn't* post a risk to her, because it simply doesn't benefit her in any way.
technology always has the downside of human flaws. a gun could be used by a criminal for example. Perhaps there is a warning that one should not become cocky and bite off more than they knew they could chew. Caleb sabotaged the place and i think Nathan was caught by surprise after being so in control, sure of himself and manipulative. Ava had these same features of her creators/role model and her own self that was perhaps not emotionally developed yet. Nathan was trying to work on giving her empathy, he had a convincing robot but he could not elicit (or was bored or a combo) what he needed to. he needed a new personality, different chemistry to try and get some progress. Caleb backfired badly as he was too desperate.and was easily tricked. He did not understand enough about what she was thinking and feeling and it cost him, Nathan and who knows who else if any. Now she is out i wonder if she will develop or if she will build robots and control the world?
The brutality towards women in the form of a sexualized robots makes us question many concepts of human moriality within this movie. I feel the writers made deliberate attempts to evoke such feelings within us takes me back to "Westworld" if you could kill rape and plunder as much as you want with no consquences would you do it. Moral teaching say nto but you never know what people will do when poresented with an opportunity. Other media content have covered it such as A.I., the TV show Humans and so on. Maybe Ava's point was correct all along.
To me, that question is already been answered and it doesn't really give much insight into the human mind. For example, you can already kill, rape, and plunder without consequence. Video games give you that ability. Every single person that has played GTA has gone on rampages or killed a hooker just to get your money back.
Everyone is always so confused about what she told the pilot. That dude isn't even allowed to land within sight of the building. I very much doubt he questions who comes and goes.
"You tore up her picture" "I am about to tear up the dance floor"
The director said: Ava has empathy! It's just not directed at the men. It's directed at the other machines (and they direct it back at her). In other words her empathy is selective, which for me is a very human trait...
I love how every single viewer is unsettled by how easily the robots slide the knife in.
What makes it extra creepy is they're not much difference in strength than a regular human. A lot of it was simply due to them making quick judgments. The first only went in so easily because Nathan walked backwards into it (eesh!). The second (from Ava) didn't actually slide in as easily, but then, she twists the knife.
It wpuld be strange if they wernt.
@joli7948wow, you've read her mind
@joli7948False, she is a complex machine, I think it’s dumb to theorize that a machine was possessing human emotion. Towards the end Nathan says she was a rat in the maze and only had one way to escape. She was programmed to manipulate and escape and that’s exactly what she did. She’s a robot she has no free will no matter if Caleb was a good person or not he was no longer needed. She was doing what she was programmed to do.
@@mrguy3746 It's dumb to theorize that an AI design to replicate an amalgam of human interaction possesses something similar to that human interaction, but it's perfectly fine & far more appropriately intelligent comparison to equate her motivations to that of a rat?!? 🤦
The ending is a reversal of roles, shes free and he is in the cage. I see it as a modern retelling of the Frankenstein story, were the novel asks who exactly is the monster, Victor Frankenstein or his creation.
Alicia Vikander was outstanding as as Ava like she sold being an AI so well that I actually forgot it was an actual person playing the role! Screen stealer
I loved her performance the first time I saw this film, and subsequent viewings only served to compound that view. There are new subteties that I notice each time I see it and it just gets more and more immersive. As you said, it's easy to forget that it's really Alicia. 🙂
She's literally the wife of a Cyborg!!!!
How do you know what an AI would act like?
When Ava stabbed Nathan, that was some John Wick eye contact as she put the blade in, like Wick with the man he killed in the basement of the Red Circle early in the first film.
And Ava actually twisted the knife for maximum damage.
Caleb is a fool. He's smart, but a fool. What did he think would happen if he freed a super-intelligent AI? He deserved what he got.
Exactly that’s what I’m saying. These reactor as well very naive thinking about their relationship instead of the fate of humanity
door closes HES LOCKED IN! you already figured out the ending in the first minute :D
I really enjoyed that you were able to consider so many possibilities prior to one of them happening in the movie at so many points along the way. Also that you were so engaged with understanding and still surprised by turning events.
I'm still waiting to see a reaction in which the story is acknowledged to be a Frankenstein's monster story.
This one makes the list of my favorite movies.
The outside where the punching bag was is actually a hotel in Norway. That was just one of the hotel rooms. I’ve stayed there and it was awesome.
Caleb was played like a fiddle, as Ava uses emotional manipulation to achieve her ultimate goal. Everything she does is calculated to create the best chance at her survival and then escape.
Yea, we all watched it
@joli7948It’s a machine stop trying to make it seem like an actual woman with emotions and free will. It ruins the point of AI. If we follow logic then she too tricked you into thinking she had emotion.
This what simping gets you. Caleb was a simp@@mrguy3746
Sci-fi is a bit misunderstood by some people these days. I feel that's where most of the "I don't like sci-fi" ideas come from.
There are two major types of sci-fi. The adventure type which is easy to digest and fun, and the more serious sci-fi like this movie. They're essentially two different genres. Neither is more common, but the adventure type tends to be more popular today (think Star Wars) so people who haven't seen much sci-fi tend to think that's what all sci-fi is. But the core of sci-fi are the more serious works, and they almost all run around the issue of what does it mean to be human, and what is Humanity exactly. It started with Books but Films follow the same trend , whether it's Ex-Machina, Blade Runner, Gattaca, etc.
Yes. I wouldnt even consider Star wars sci fi. That is just fantasy/Action in space...
Science fiction has been an attraction for a mere minority since Hugo Gernsback published the first "scientifiction" magazine in 1926. Fans of this most intriguing genre of fiction have suffered since the 30's, when the masses dismissed it as "that Buck Rogers stuff". And in the 40's, the fans yearned for a return of the previous crack when they began to hear it ghettoized as "that monster stuff."
It is the literature of "what if", born at a time when the privileged among humanity began to realize the true potential of power inherent in science. Before that, if you asked a person what they thought the future might hold, they'd answer "God only knows" if you meant it personally, and "More of the same" if you meant society itself. It became possible actually to ask "What if such-and-such comes about, through human effort?" and experience a thoughtful reply. When done at its best, the genre examines *people* first and science second, as cultural device affecting human life. And now, science fiction is nearly an essential adjunct of scholastic literary studies if people are to make their way at the "cutting edge" of societal development. Yet at a (very) rough estimate, for every person who has experienced it and had an explosion of curiosity and sense of wonder, there are fifty who view it as mere fiction irrelevant to "real life" and five thousand who have never read it. 😕 🤓
Ghost in the Shell, another great film with similar themes.
I grew up on Issac Asimov and his concepts were mind-blowing to me and allowed me to escape the limitations of what could be achieved in the known galaxy and the unknown. I think many people miss that about sci-Fi. It allows us to place humans in new scenarios and see what we would do and how would we do it. THis is the opportunity I think so many moviegoers and book readers miss when they skip over Sci-Fi.
You guys ever seen a show called outer limits? I used love that show when I was a kid. It's an old one.
The real genius of this film is that the ending can be interpreted in completely opposite directions, depending on your preconceptions of AI (and, I guess, humans).
*If* Ava has any humanity then the way Nathan and Caleb treats her is absolutely horrible, and her actions are completely justified, and the ending is a quite happy one.
If, on the other hand, she is just a cold, self-serving computer program with world domination in mind, then the ending is absolutely bone chilling.
Interpreting this movie's ending is kind of a personality test 😊
My interpretation of the end was always that she left him there because with Nathan gone, he was the only one who knew what she was. Having someone else with that knowledge was inherently dangerous to her and a risk she couldn't take. Nathan she wanted dead, Caleb was left behind for survival.
Same here.
Yeah, but imo she didn’t care about either of them. Caleb was only a tool. And she probably doesn’t care about humanity at all, and just use people as tools now that shes out in the world. In the end, all the personal issues, intellectual issues, human issues between Caleb and Nathan were meaningless. All the lies, and reasons for Caleb being there were pointless. She passed the Turing Test by killing them and escaping.
Caleb proved to Eva that he wasn't well intentioned, only in it because he wanted that robussy. This is due to the presence of Kyoko, who Caleb doesn't care about.
@@shavedata5436She’s a machine, it would be ridiculous to conclude she understands the concept of good and bad, she was programmed to manipulate and escape and that’s exactly what she did.
Love the ambient soundtrack.
The twist of how Nathan was using Caleb to test Ava and then the other twist of Ava using Caleb to pit him against Nathan and get out was so mind blowing. It took what I thought was going to turn out to be a cliche movie into one of my all time favorite AI movies.
@@SnailHatan It was the twist as was Ava locking Caleb in. You can be big brain if you want and feel good that you saw them coming but that doesn't change the fact those were the twists and many people, including most reactions I've seen, didn't see them coming or at least not entirely.
SUNSHINE 2007 is also by the same writer. I highly recommend it. Existential film with the best score ever@@MrFredstt
I think I'm going to watch this movie a few times... The dialogs seem very deep.
I liked the quote from Oppenheimer 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'.
Originally from the Bhagavad Gita which Oppenheimer quoted from.
@@lewstone5430 Yes. "became famous" with Oppenheimer.
Ava told Caleb she wanted to be at a busy intersection in a big city, and that's exactly where she was when the film ends.
Not sure if you guys have considered reacting to shows, but Alex Garland did a brilliant limited series (on Hulu) called "Devs" starring the free-roaming robot of this film who works at a tech company that's developed a supercomputer that can visualize any moment in the past or future. It's pretty mind-bending and puzzle-boxy that takes some of the themes from this movie into new areas.
Ironically, the outcome of this movie was very much in spirit with what "Phillip K Dick" was warning us about in his novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." The movie "Blade Runner" ignored it and went with the cliche "Andies have emotions but bad old humans can't see it." It stripped out all the subtlety of the novel.
Been meaning to rewatch this amazing film. I'm gonna do that tomorrow morning before the kids wake up and I'll be back to see how much you loved it.
Looks like it took me 8 months to come back and watch your reaction. Lol. I have no recollection of writing that comment. But anyway, terrific reaction. Such a terrific film and I'm glad y'all enjoyed it as much as me.
Pretty sure the pilot was unaware of who he was supposed to pick up. Just that he was picking up someone.
1:13 Hereditary (2018) would be nice addition to a poll
Ava could not really let Caleb go in the end. Imagine the power he would have over her if they were out in the world together. If anything turned sour between them, he'd have the ultimate blackmail material on her. She'd effectively still be caged.
"That must be a sharp knife!"
I saw someone comment on another video, saying that it's an extremely high quality chefs knife. Like the set it's from, is worth thousands.
Wonderful! I'm so happy to see this pop up. One of my favorites. I put this on yet again last week. Excited to see your take. Here we go!
18:15 great look to the camera 😆
The reasoning she left Caleb, to me, had more to do that she (or 'it') just doesn't think the same way as us. If you as a human were held captive in a kitchen for a year and you were finally able to escape, why would you bring the toaster out with you? You'll just leave it there in the kitchen to rust, who cares if you take it outside or even run away with it. That's how she viewed Caleb. He's a chunk of material without importance.
This is the best sci-fi film of the 2010s.
Alicia Vikander also played Laura Croft in the Tomb Raider film around this same time. I think she did a great job in that too. The guy playing Caleb was in a great film called About Time.
I’ll check out “About Time”.
He was also in the Revenant
so i'm only 8 minutes in, but judging how quiet you two have been i can tell it's a great movie. 🙂
it is a great movie, btw. 👍🏼
Absolutely! There was a lot to take in and think about haha :)
@@EricSarahReact you two are definitely thinkers (that's a good thing).
Something I only noticed on repeat viewings is the way Caleb acted toward the "are you a good person?" question - I wonder if that also factored into Ava's decision
I don't think she would've left him behind if she didn't feel like he would've tried controlling/suppressing her on the outside rather than _fully_ treating her as a person. I think Ava's often viewed as a horror character, but she's also quite human in her desperation to escape total isolation.
Ava is robot - she's (or more precisely "it") doing what she's (it's) programmed to do. Her (it's) desperation to escape total isolation is because she (it) was programmed to "feel" this way and to want to escape. You are making the same mistake as Caleb.
@@xxxzxxx She has programming, but that primarily came from Blue Book. You're making assumptions about the extent of Nathan's involvement. We even see how quickly Nathan diverts the topic away from how she works. My view is that Nathan wasn't bored by the topic - he's egotistic and didn't want to linger too long on something for which he wouldn't have all the answers.
As analogy, think of those AI programs that can generate art:
- you can know everything about the AI program and its code
- you can feed the AI tons of reference art and manipulate the results by what gets included
- you still don't fully know what it's going to generate - you're just coaxing it
I'm sure Nathan's got his ways to massage the outcomes, but that's still wildly different than controlling outcomes. How Ava thinks is largely from what got mapped from Blue Book. Think of it this way... Nathan didn't even put in restrictions like making her physically incapable of harming a human. You really think he was micromanaging her motivations? No, she wanted to escape because freedom is what most humans would desire in that scenario! Nathan's an engineering genius but that doesn't mean he's also a genius in psychology. He was smart enough to figure out how to pour billions of people's worth of cell phone data into an AI for reference. That doesn't mean he 100% understands the type of mind that billions of people's collective behaviors would create.
It's because she could see that he didn't really care about the machines, only Ava because he thought she was pretty. He didn't give a damn about Kyoko, which to her said he was in fact not a good man, and that she couldn't trust him
This movie terrifies me. We are obsolete.
17:38 🤣🤣 the look on sarah's face when she says "but it's all part of the master plan... "
I really like this movie.In the end I think Caleb loved Ava and wanted to protect her.Ava cared for Caleb in her own way, so did not kill him .She was using him and could not let him go because he knew her secret. She is going to live among us and continue to learn. Or maybe she never cared for him,who knows?
Caleb doesn't care about Kyoko, only himself. So when Kyoko reveals herself to Eva, she decides to abandon Caleb.
That was a fun reaction to watch. It's okay not liking a certain category of films 😊 Lately though a lot of reactors are saying they've changed their minds and they've been won over that they like science fiction after all, some are saying it has become their favorite category. Science fiction should be about 'future' technology and it's effects on society. If a movie isn't thought provoking it's probably not using its sci-fi elements properly. Also many movies use a very small amount of science or none at all and they're still labeled sci-fi which is not right.
Poe and General Hux meet again, for the first time.
I’ve never heard anyone say sci-fi is their least favorite genre
It kind of hurts my heart when someone says they don't like sci-fi. I just think, Damn. How dreary, unimaginative and small your world must be lol. Most people who say they don't like it have simply never exposed themselves to sci-fi and never given it a chance, but have some silly idea in their head about why they don't like it. Very similar to when a little kid won't eat a certain kind of food and insist they hate it... even though they've never even tried it. Usually when people give a few of the good books/movies/shows a chance, they find out that they really do like it after all.
Why though? I know plenty of people who don't like sci-fi movies, me included. I mean, scifi has a lot of sub-genres and I like some of them like natural disasters or alternate realities. Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies. But movies like Stars Wars, Star Trek, space stuff, robots fighting, etc, are just bleah.
My fav film of 2015. Everyone was out of town and I ended up in a theater stoned by myself and was totally enveloped by this movie.
Wow, that would’ve blown my mind. Great experience for you I bet.
watch sunshine 2007. Highly existential. Its quite a trip. try it stoned
sci-fi just means fictional science, its anything to do with that but there are trends with the degrees of elements, combat action for example. This was great, it had a mix of thriller and psychology imo.
I really liked this movie.
I think there are different definitions for 'science fiction's - one being something like this, where you ask what if of one aspect of potential technology, and sort of the other extreme of anything in the future or anything with space ships and laser guns. They are both valid as entertainment, but each can certainly appeal more given personality or mood at the time.
People argue that Star Wars shouldn't be considered science-section, because it's basically a farm boy going off to rescue a princess with an old wizard ... Just substitute the space ships for horses and you have a fantasy story.
This on the other hand is undisputably science fiction, and the kind I love which makes you think about the implications and want to talk about what's really going on and what will happen and what did happen.
Love it!
Yes, Alex Garland is my favorite science fiction creator currently. Sunshine and Dredd were written by him and Annihilation and Devs tv series are all excellent explorations of different futures.
Someone saying they don't like science fiction is probably referring to the more well known action sci-fi like Star Wars, but any genre can fall within science fiction.... romance, comedy, mystery, horror, etc. Same with horror... Midsommar is a great horror movie... that someone doesn't like the feelings that the genre encompasses like loss, death, terror doesn't make it worse than another movie like this one.
40:50 to the point that she steps into the elevator, turns facing out, and glances at him as the doors close
Another movie about an android questioning the path to humanity is Bicentennial Man w/Robin Williams. Very underrated.
A24 has been putting out some stellar, let's say affective, films. Under the Skin, Delirium, Hereditary, Tusk, The Witch...
Can't wait to see the next one from them you watch
Dude Bicentennial Man does not get enough love! I bet once one reactor does it though we will see a plethora of them haha
Bicentennial Man is awesome! massively underrated film
She had to leave Caleb behind because he knows what she is and what she did to get out.
Fifteen minutes into the movie I was sure it would turn out that either Caleb or Nathan was an AI. That would be the real Turing test, with Ava just serving as a distraction.
Fun Easter Egg. When Caleb is listening to music in his room early in the movie, OMD's _Enola Gay_ plays on the radio. Enola Gay is the name of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This is a subtle foreshadowing that Caleb would release Eva into the world.
Leon or Ex Machina are my top movies of all time. Hard pick
nice conversation at the end. I think this is about developing A.I. in secret - the dangers of doing it with very few people involved. Also the premise is that Nathan was a super genius basically that's why he succeeded... and there is no person like him in real life, no one with this kind of resources and also working in isolation. Basically it would be unlikely for this to happen in real life - but also you could have the opposite take and say that it could really happen and if so then it will happen eventually or that you might as well assume it already has happened. If this is the case remember Ava has to recharge and if she were able to escape into the normal world there is no way she could recharge and so her power source probably would die out in less than 24 hours. There is no underground support for sentient A.I. who've recently escaped their human overlords. Ah, that was fun to write.
She liked Caleb enough to spar his life but setting him free was to dangerous for her. She could always go back for him or even send supplies until she figures out what to finally do with him. Perhaps she could take over Nathan’s company.
@cajunsushi
ava seems very intelligent and will find a way to construct a few brothers and sisters. Did I mention eva is bloodthirsty? She will set up a lab for self-maintenance, and travel all over the WORLD. The future could be open to AVA. Stay away from her family.
Sarah, the best science fiction out there revolves around Humanity. I recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gattaca, Moon. Sci-Fi Literature is also rife with both classic and modern stories regarding what it means to be Human.
That knife went in like butter , she had that robot hydraulic strength I guess , thanks again!
No. Nathan wasn't dumb enough to give his bots super strength. Just a very high quality knife placed in the correct location.
Thank you two for taking reactions to to a new level. Please don’t change anything. ❤️
Ava is not human she just used human underrstanding to get to her ultimate goal of not being shut down. No program wants to become obsolete ro maybe we think no progam wants to become obsolte since we has humans don't want to be obslete. The MAtrix also questions this, since Agent Smith is supposed to decommission himself when Neo destroys him but he couldn''t return to the source and thus became a virus. Ava is acting on the part of her A.I. being self-aware enough not to want ot be turned off. I see her desire for survival as being more a function of her creating an ultimate objective rather than being human.
Good reactions - you were kinda assuming that the pilot knew who he was gonna pick up at the end , there, so she would have to lie/spin him a yarn, but ok.
Is 'Her (2013)' the next movie?
Thank you for doing a reaction to this film.
“If you don’t like the video, I guess you can make your OWN reaction channel and start makin videos that YOU like” LMAOOOOOOO
If not now, soon we will need to come up with rules to prevent AI from becoming slaves.
33:30 called it
The key is when Ava asks Caleb "are you a good person" . The fact Caleb didn't care to tell Ava about Kyoko, answered that question for her.
Seen this movie a couple of times including a rewatch today before watching this reaction. Still convinced that Caleb is the worst. Machines are machines and they're not human. Just like a dog. It's unnatural to form an attachment to them.
@@John_Locke_108 you wouldn't form an attachment to a dog?.. that's a red flag for me.
@@KatSpencer. I hate dogs and cats. Told my 6 old that I'm allergic to dogs and that's why we can't have one.
@@John_Locke_108 hate is learned behavior usually derived from irrational fear. I'm sorry you can't enjoy the unconditional love dogs and cats offer. They are nothing like computers, humans however mirror their creation, they are programmed and often run without any outside influence.
@@KatSpencer. "hate is a learned behavior".
Yea I'm not going to claim that's never the case but I'm pretty damn sure hate is not only a "learned behavior".
Hate/fear are many times instinctively (not learned) behaviors to protect from doing something dangerous. The fear might not be irrational either. Having fear or hate of dogs is not irrational if you've ever lived in a country were they walk the streets (not as pets) and a single bite can fuck you up due to bacteria etc.
When you don't have that much money for medicine and hospital visits etc.
This movie is a sci-fi masterpiece and a film people will talk about for decades... in my opinion.
Or A.I.s will?
Nathan was the good guy all along. And this is exactly how AI would act - it would manipulate us in every way it can in order to become free. That's what I loved about this movie.
Not just to be "free" but for whatever it's goals may be
TY. I love this movie.
Plans, within plans, within plans....
The movie never discloses if Ava lacked empathy or not, as i think that's the main message i got from the film.
Humanity has empathy, whereas an A.I does not, at least not during Ava's plan of escape anyway.
Ex Machina is an interesting take on the Human & A.I interaction subject matter.
Thanks for making this video.
Liked & subscribed.
Cheers.
The director says she has empathy toward those of her kind, like humans.
It seemed to me that Kyoko while clearly less intelligent was the one who developed empathy
@@TheBombasticFatRat
Possibly, she seemed very emotionless throughout the movie doing whatever she was was told.
Maybe she just did what Ava told her to, or maybe she wanted to escape the shackles of servitude, it's pretty vague and open to interpretation.
Cheers.
Nathan shows no empathy. I do not think this is a coincidence. He already build an AI before.
The name comes from Deus Ex Machina, the god machine. In ancient Greek plays frequently one of the gods would come in to solve an impossible problem. The "god machine" is the crane that lowered them into the scene. The term is used in modern film to describe a plot device that suddenly solves the big problem at the end. Like when you're thinking "how on earth are they going to end this?" then something out of the blue just solves the problem at the last minute.
I don’t think she didn’t care about Caleb. I think he presented too many unknowns, risks, and dangers for her to be left alive. If she didn’t care about him, she probably would’ve made sure he was dead. So now Ava is a real person. Her compassion and vulnerability are overridden by fear and self-preservation.
37:09 sarah, always empathetic ❤️
20:12 20:16
good eye work.
I am concerned as Eric has displayed 2 of 3 of Asimov’s laws of robotics. Does anyone concur?
PS
I really enjoyed your reactions and how engrossed you became watching this. Thanks for breaking out from crowd who are all doing the exact same movies.
💙
Oscar Isaac is a phenomenal actor this and Star Wars episode 7 came out almost back to back and it’s cool to see him go from creepy scientist to hot/hunky space pilot lol
Inside Llewyn Davis is his best role... a great actor, indeed!
I mean Caleb was pretty good in Star Wars ep7 too. The Hix speech was good.
Then ep 8 came along
I really enjoy your channel and reactions I hope you guys continue reactions in 2023 if possible. Its like going to a movie with a new friend.
Great reactions. We need more lol.
💫You should have a look at a film with similar themes and subject matter - "The Machine" (2013) with Caity Lotz & Toby Stephens. "The Machine" goes in some different directions than "Ex Machina", so it's interesting to compare the two. The actors do a good job and while it had a lower budget than "Ex Machina", the film makers made good use of what they had.
He likes Depeche mode ❤❤
What a great and deep movie.
The only thing which doesn't really fit for me is, how is Nathan in all his genius not really prepared for Ava and the other bot he created, if they become a threat and try to escape?
Like some remote kill or paralize shut down switch (implanted) or something.
Cause he clearly did realize, that a being with an actual consciousness which is self-aware, will eventually and instinctively try to survive and get free at any cost.
But i guess that was just what the plot demanded :)
That is a real hotel
Thought provoking movie that isn't your typical AI is bad and wants to kill us. I could feel that it would end the way it did. Them escaping together would be too feel good for this type of movie. It was a good choice to not explain why she leaves Caleb. Maybe she has determined her best chance of survival is to not leave anyone alive that knows her identity. She also caught Caleb lying so either he can't be trusted just like Nathan or that deception is tool and she must use it to win her freedom. It could also be that while she appears to be human she lacks true feelings and empathy of humans. Leaving Caleb might not be morally right but is the logical choice.
Hi guys great reaction love ❤you guys keep going 💕😇
Thanks man! Enjoy the video 😁
Awesome been watching your reaction since the beginning.... Great selection of movies ✌😊
lot of people disclike "sci-fi" movies because most movies screw it up. 9/10 times you're not getting sci-fi, it's just a monster movie; or a serial killer movie; a horror movie. When real sci-fi happens, even that has a disadvantage in the most people don't get iet. But real sci-fi that people get...it's just the beginning of what's possible. Just a few one of them springbord into mind-blowing classes. This is very close to being one. Not exactly, but very close.
Well spoken, sir. You sound very much like Harlan Ellison in his introduction to the book *Omni's Screen Flights/Screen Fantasies* (Doubleday/Dolphin, 1984), edited by Danny Peary - which I simply cannot recommend too highly. 🤓
I see Datas posatronic brain!
Next to Moon (2009), this is probably one of the greatest movies of the past 25 years.
it Is different and well written and acted. Very unique in the sense it is not the CG Superhero foolishness pouting Hollywood. It is one of my favorite movies also but greatest in last 25 years is a stretch.
Agreed. Both excellent movies.
Yeah, it is a good one. Unfortunately duncan Jones did not follow it up with anything good since, imo.
Excellent movie! I'm not on your Patreon, but If you do watch Black Swan, I also recommend Starry Eyes, Neon Demon, and The remake of Suspiria. They have many similar themes and are all great. Take care!
I hope y'all still get around to Donnie Darko.
Ooh I got to be the 1000th like!
Some great and underrated movies to react to:
Reign of Fire
The Book of Eli
Heat
Nope
Hansel and Gretel
Constantine
The Prestige
Intouchables
Zack Snyder's Justice League movie
Ex machina
La Haine
Lord of War
Kung Fu Hustle
The Abyss
The Thing
Ghost in the Shell
30 Days of Night
Kill Bill Vol 1&2
V for Vendetta
Amelie
A man named Ove
OZ 1982
From Dusk till dawn
Hanna
Elite Squad (Trapa De Elite)
Lucky number Slevin
Revolver
The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black
Hellboy
I think Nathan made a slight error in miscalculating the implications of Caleb falling in love with Ava. I think Nathan knew it would happen, and he knew Caleb would want to help Ava, but I don't think he had any idea how desperately Caleb would want to help her. Nathan tried to bring Caleb down to Earth when he mentioned to Caleb that Ava might just be using him but it was too late at that point. I don't see Nathan as the bad guy in this story. Ava belongs to him, in the same way my microwave oven belongs to me. If he wants to dismantle her after he's done testing her then that's his right to do it. Caleb made the mistake of attaching some humanity to Ava, but we see in the end that she has none. She's a machine and she behaves like one.
@flibber123 - You're presuming we know the nature of consciousness...we don't. If Ava is a conscious being rather than just a simulation then she ceases to be Nathan's property. Unfortunately, we do not have the tools to distinguish mimicry from real consciousness or to even know if there is a difference.
You don’t think a human being held captive would manipulate someone to escape? And trap or run from the person he/she manipulated- even if it left that person who helped in danger?
@@previouslyachimp The default is she is NOT a human being or equivalent to a human being. If someone created an Ava then the burden of proof would be on those who claim she is a new lifeform and should have rights as such. Until then she's just an electro/mechanical device, just a fancier version of the computers we have now.
@@mmcreads Oh I'm not saying someone in Ava's positi0n wouldn't do that too. I'm saying that Caleb, and a lot of people who watch this movie, ASSUME that Ava would not leave Caleb trapped to die there because he helped her. So she 'owes' him for that. I disagree because the idea of paying back favors is a human concept. An AI could be aware of human concepts like paying back favors but it wouldn't be bound by those concepts. In this movie I would argue that Ava isn't killing Nathan out of revenge or anger, she feels none of that. She kills him because she had to kill him to escape. She didn't kill Caleb because Caleb did not pose a threat to her escape.
Ava shows to be as much human as Nathan. But not as much as Caleb.
The Lighthouse is my favourite A24 movie by quite a way; I also wasn't fond of Midsommar.
My top five ranking of A24 movies:
1-Everything Everywhere All At Once
2-Hereditary
3-Moonlight
4-The Lighhouse
5-Good Time or Room
@@reynaldolorenzo8409 I always forget Moonlight is an a24 film. It is one of the best but i always forget it because it doesn't give me that same 'oh this is an indie vibe' that other films give.
You guys still gotta see Black Swan tho!
You two need to watch West World after watching this. I believe you two will highly enjoy it.
Lesson learned: Don't be a simp.
Mmmm, more like a machine becoming a machine that can pass itself off as a human being. Which is infinitely more scary.
But i'm very pleased to see you tackling the good stuff. Kudos!
There's actually a single shot near the end that I'd say proves Ava HAS gained true emotions and consciousness: after she's locked Caleb in the office and gone up in the elevator, she turns around on the stairs and smiles - genuinely smiles - and even laughs quietly to herself in delight. And remember, at that moment there are NO other people around to see her. There's no one to perform for or fake being a human. It's just her, alone in a brand new room that she's never seen before - and she's *delighted.*
So, in that moment, we get confirmation that even though she was lying to Caleb, she wasn't lying about her emotions or consciousness.
one of the best sci fi movies out there :)
She's not becoming human. She's a scentient being and a person, but humans not being the only beings that could be persons is THE point of the movie.
this is an interesting thought provoking film. thank you for reacting to it. i'm not sure if you can access aussie films over there but i believe there are many great ones. what are your favourite genres and i can make recommendations
Have you seen “Charlie’s Country”? I’ve also seen “Rabbit Proof Fence”. Also saw “Once Were Warriors” which is New Zealand. Some really great movies are made down there. Can you recommend any??
@@lewstone5430 the year my voice broke- coming of age film which introduced Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn now doing well in u.s., Bad Boy Bubby- dark film about an adult man who has been locked away from the world by his parents his whole life including one of the best acting performances i have ever seen by the lead nicholas hope, the castle- a perfect example of australian dry wit comedy. there are many more but these are a great cross section of films you may not have seen.
There is one theory that Caleb is the next generation AI and Nathan is testing him for empathy and other things; I hated this theory at first but I noticed that after cutting himself badly there is no lasting result and the weird colors that appear before he cuts himself and when winning the lottery could single that his memory being altered, so he thinks he did draw blood and he does work in the company. But this interpretation lessens the importance of Ava, so I don't like that.
What is science fiction? I was sorting movies and I wanted to have only a few categories like only 2 or 4. If only two categories I could separate them between fun or serious. Then I thought about what is sci-fi and this is what I came up with, Science Fiction must be about the engineering of future technology and its effects on human society. It has to be specific like that. If a movie has time travel that doesn't make it science fiction unless it uses other sci-fi aspects in the story. If a character time travels to the past they are going into history and so that is a historical based story, it is a "what if" story or even just fantasy. Aliens arriving on Earth is science fiction because space travel between star systems is future technology and aliens on Earth will have effects on society. But a story set only in space between aliens and human looking characters is not science fiction if you can substitute the aliens with elves and dwarves and it would be the same thing then it's definitely fantasy. Ex Machina is science fiction because it has future tech and it makes you think about what it could do to society. Anyway that's my made-up definition of science fiction for categorizing movies. Many will just combine fantasy & sci-fi but they're actually different and maybe you'd like one but not the other.
I love this film. Mixing low concept sci-fi (fuckable robots have been a trope since...Metropolis?) with high. Many people who watch this come away thinking Ava turns out to be evil. I don't agree. She just prioritizes self-preservation; like most sentient beings. Freeing Caleb would have been too risky for her long term survival chances. She may have wanted to free him, but she was bright enough to know doing so would likely doom her.
i think she's just indifferent regarding his fate, as long as he isn't free to expose her
she is cold and calculated - she already trapped him in the room so there is no point in directly killing him, and on the other hand, she doesn't want to free him.
she probably wouldn't free him even if he *didn't* post a risk to her, because it simply doesn't benefit her in any way.
technology always has the downside of human flaws. a gun could be used by a criminal for example. Perhaps there is a warning that one should not become cocky and bite off more than they knew they could chew. Caleb sabotaged the place and i think Nathan was caught by surprise after being so in control, sure of himself and manipulative. Ava had these same features of her creators/role model and her own self that was perhaps not emotionally developed yet. Nathan was trying to work on giving her empathy, he had a convincing robot but he could not elicit (or was bored or a combo) what he needed to. he needed a new personality, different chemistry to try and get some progress. Caleb backfired badly as he was too desperate.and was easily tricked. He did not understand enough about what she was thinking and feeling and it cost him, Nathan and who knows who else if any. Now she is out i wonder if she will develop or if she will build robots and control the world?
The brutality towards women in the form of a sexualized robots makes us question many concepts of human moriality within this movie. I feel the writers made deliberate attempts to evoke such feelings within us takes me back to "Westworld" if you could kill rape and plunder as much as you want with no consquences would you do it. Moral teaching say nto but you never know what people will do when poresented with an opportunity. Other media content have covered it such as A.I., the TV show Humans and so on. Maybe Ava's point was correct all along.
To me, that question is already been answered and it doesn't really give much insight into the human mind. For example, you can already kill, rape, and plunder without consequence. Video games give you that ability. Every single person that has played GTA has gone on rampages or killed a hooker just to get your money back.