Sightlines · reception
How Ex Machina was received
2015 · Alex Garland · Ex Machina on Sightlines
The arc
A modest A24 sci-fi sleeper in 2015 that punched far above its indie budget, it has only climbed since — the chatbot era turned it from 'smart little thriller' into the decade's most prescient AI film, rewatched and re-cited every time the technology makes headlines.
What’s debated
The perennial fight is whether the film critiques the male gaze or indulges it — is Ava's depiction a feminist trap sprung on the audience, or the very objectification it claims to skewer?
Its footprint
Oscar Isaac's out-of-nowhere disco dance is one of the internet's immortal gifs, resurfacing weekly and routinely called the best scene A24 ever released; the film is also the default pop-culture reference point whenever the Turing test comes up.
Where it stands
Firmly in the modern sci-fi canon — a Letterboxd staple, a fixture at the top of A24 ranking lists, and a standard 'you must see this' for anyone getting into AI cinema.
Did you know? It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in a genuine upset — beating Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mad Max: Fury Road with by far the smallest budget in the category (around $15 million).