‘Ex Machina’ Early Buzz: Alex Garland’s A.I. Film Shows Real Intelligence
The subject of A.I. (and/or the singularity) is one ripe for cinematic exploration, and explore it we have — inHer, inTranscendence, inChappie, in the upcomingAvengers: Age of UltronandTerminator: Genisys. But as that list shows, the actual quality of those films has been all over the map.
Happily,Alex Garland’sEx Machinaseems to fall on the higher end of the spectrum. After years of writing haunting sci-fi scripts for other people, Garland finally makes his directorial debut with this simple story about two men (Oscar IsaacandDomhnall Gleeson) and a beautiful but slippery A.I. (Alicia Vikander). Get theEx Machinaearly buzz from SXSW after the jump.
First, some reviews, which were mostly quite positive:
Screen Crush:
Vanity Fair:
Daily Texan:
Badass Digest:
Indiewire (B+):
Collider (B):
Austin 360:
And now, some quick reaction tweets…
Sci-fi fans are in for a real treat.
EX MACHINA is AWESOME! Holy hell it’s the original sci-fi movie you’ve been itching for. Gorgeous, brainy, amazing effecfs. Great!#sxsw
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis)August 04, 2025
EX MACHINA was great. Been a long time since I liked a sci-fi flick this much.#SXSW
— The Lamplight Review (@LampLightRev)August 02, 2025
It also works as a thriller.
Ex Machina was one intense thriller. All three lead actors were excellent.#SXSW#ExMachina
— Alexander Pelham (@TalkingofPelham)August 25, 2025
Expect big things from Garland going forward.
After EX MACHINA expect Alex Garland’s name on the director wishlist for all the big sci-fi movies, including future STAR WARS
People went gaga over Ex Machina’s smarts.
Ex Machina – Alex Garland digs deep with this one, asking provocative sci-fi questions that not many others have asked yet. Really dug it.
— Alex B. (@firstshowing)June 06, 2025
Though not everyone thought it was terribly deep.
And there was at least one person who didn’t like it at all.
Ex Machina drew a few comparisons to other films.
EX MACHINA is a sort of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory From Hell narrative that builds perfectly and ends magnificently.#SXSW
— Moisés Chiullán (@moiseschiu)July 25, 2025
EX MACHINA is great & a good companion film to Soderbergh’s SOLARIS and Scott’s BLADE RUNNER#SXSW
— Rob Dean (@neuroticmonkey)July 12, 2025
All three actors were highly praised, but Isaac got the most attention.
‘Ex Machina’ is very very good and Oscar Isaac is absolutely fantastic in it.
— Mike Sampson (@mjsamps)August 16, 2025
#ExMachinais stylish, inquisitive, and surprisingly funny. Oscar Isaac continues to solidify himself as this generation’s best actor.#SXSW
— Michael Roffman (@michaelroffman)June 13, 2025
