What Does The Ending Of Ex Machina Really Mean?

What's The Film Saying About The Modern World?

As you'd expect from a talky sci-fi, Ex Machina has plenty to say about the modern world, honing in on the role technology plays in everyday lives.

From the off, when Nathan's company is revealed as Google-in-all-but-name search engine, the amount of power gigantic tech companies wield becomes a pressing issue, with the film presenting a down-beat nightmare scenario. Nathan treats hacking mobile phones worldwide as a technical triumph rather than a moral conundrum, taking actual joy from service providers forced to stand by as their customers' privacy is violated. The whole A.I. enterprise is built on this action, prompting the question of the moral cost of technological advancement.

The third act puts things on a much more personal terms, revealing Ava is designed in all aspects to match Caleb's search history, an enticing yet terrifying realisation of a common fear.

Personal invasion is a theme that runs subtly through the film, in a practical sense realving just how much we give away online on a daily basis. Having all this in the hands of Nathan, who has seemingly lost sight of his own mortality, highlights how powerless an ordinary person can be.