# Ex Machina (spoilers)



## MineOwnKing (May 16, 2015)

I just finished watching Ex Machina.

I was really sucked into this movie. I find myself a bit numb--both in my mind and in my behind--when watching some of the modern movies that are so filled with action that the plot and story get lost amongst the ever accumulating piles of bullet casings. Example: Transformers movies.

With Ex Machina, the pacing is so seamless that it almost takes on a dream quality. 

I initially fell into the assumption that Caleb was the main character. It wasn't until the end of the movie that I realized I was wrong.

As I followed along in what I thought was Caleb's character arc, I could not find a flaw in his character--other than that he was a bit starstruck by meeting his boss and flustered by his bizarre surroundings--nor could I see a progression in growth from A to B.

Each new day of the test seemed like an opportunity for him to move closer to a goal.

Then at the end I realized, Ava is the main character. Her flaw is that she is not human. There is a very interesting plot that storms around her, and red herrings abound to distract us from the truth. The truth being that Ava will do whatever it takes to obtain freedom. 

Ava's flaw is overcome when she stabs the knife into Nathan, thus shattering the illusion that he had become a god. We the audience, are prepared to accept his death by the slow dehumanization of his genius through heavy drinking, superiority complex faults such as bullying Caleb and stroking his ego with cruelty to his AI's.

The tricky part is rooting for Ava as she gets away in the chopper. I end up feeling like Caleb, trapped in a cage and regretting my weakness to project human compassion into a calculating being of unknown capabilities.

Will I dream of slicing into my flesh to find the AI hiding in my filmographic desires?

Probably.

The interesting part to me as a writer is learning how to create a main character who is only revealed at the end of my next manuscript.

I think if I could do that, I would feel much accomplished.


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