written and directed by Alex Garland
Caleb (Gleeson) wins the chance to spend some time with Nathan (Isaac) the boss of Blue Book, the internet search company for whom he works. He is flown to a house in the middle of a mountainous region. He is given a key card and meets Nathan.
Nathan has been developing very lifelike robots that possess artificial intelligence. He wants Caleb to interact with Ava (Vikander), his latest model. Caleb can see and talk to Ava but only through a pane of glass. Caleb and Ava interact over the course of seven days. Caleb quickly becomes suspicious of Nathan's motives. Ava warns him that Nathan is a liar.
The house experiences intermittent power failures. Nathan doesn't know what is causing them but everything is automatically locked down when the power goes out. Caleb learns from Ava that she is the one causing the power failures. It is the only time they can talk freely because it is the only time that the cameras aren't recording what's going on between them.
Caleb learns that Ava is just a prototype. Nathan plans to disassemble her once he is done with testing her. He will use what he learns from her to improve the next model. Caleb tells Ava about Nathan's plans and pledges to help her escape.
Thoughts
I like the setup and the premise. It feels a bit like an extended episode of the Twilight Zone.
There are some things about this movie that felt a bit too simple. Some pieces fell into place just a little too easily towards the end of the movie.
This movie got me. It pulled me along. I wanted to see how it turned out but once the credits started rolling I felt a bit cheated.
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