Ex Machina: Rise of the Robots

Caleb is a computer programmer. But he's no ordinary code geek -- he's one of the best of the best, and his skills garner him attention from people in high places.

He works for Blue Book, which is run by a man named Nathan. Nathan is the secretive leader and CEO who summons Caleb to his remote lab.

Garland not only directed, but he wrote the story, too. This was his (rather auspcious) debut in the director's chair.

Most of the movie was shot in Norway, and many of the scenes of the house were filmed at the Juvet Landscape Hotel. The hotel has just nine rooms, and is located in a rural village near a sprawling forest.

Nathan wants Caleb to use his superior computer skills to test an advanced humanoid robot he's been building. Caleb is thrilled to have this unique opportunity.

The robot is named Ava. She has the face of a human being, but her body is clearly made of advanced synthetic materials.

Kyoko doesn't say a word to Caleb. Nathan says it's because she doesn't speak English.

Nathan is hoping that Caleb will challenge Ava and find that she possesses human levels of intelligence and interactive abilities. Caleb's programming abilities make him a good choice to test the robot.

Gleeson is known for his role as Bill Weasley in the "Harry Potter" movies. He's been in other big movies, such as "Unbroken" and "About Time."

Alicia Vikander is from Sweden. She was raised on opera and ballet and has received numerous awards for her acting abilities.

Isaac was in "Star Wars: The Forces Awakens." He played the role of Poe Dameron, an X-wing pilot.

At first, Nathan is charming, but the longer Caleb remains at the house, the more he sees that Nathan is unstable, with substance abuse and anger issues.

Caleb is blown away by her sophisticated programming and her ability to hold a conversation. The two of them begin to develop a strange bond.

Nathan complains about intermittent power outages. During the outages, Ava and Caleb exchange private information -- and Ava tells Caleb that Nathan is a crazy person who lies about everything.

Nathan tells Caleb that he's going to erase Ava's programming if she fails a test. Caleb is immediately upset about the idea of losing his new friend.

The movie cost only $15 million, a fine example of how savvy filmmakers can leverage modern technologies to make incredible special effects.

The movie was a surprising success. With its budget of only $15 million, it made more than $36 million at box offices around the world.

Ava found a way to tap into the power system. She's able to shut down power momentarily whenever she wants to, a fact that plays heavily into future events.

Caleb is sure that Nathan is somehow mistreating Ava. He resolves to find a way to stop the abuse.

As Caleb wanders the house, he stumbles into Kyoko and realizes that she's actually a robot. He begins to suspect that Nathan is holding onto far more secrets.

The intriguing story and expert filmmaking earned this movie two Oscar nominations, Best Writing and Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

It won Best Achievement in Visual Effects. The movie's incredible effects portray Ava's robotic body in an amazingly realistic manner.

The whole ordeal is so mind-warping for Caleb that he wonders if he himself is a robot. So he cuts his skin to find out ... and then he bleeds all over the place.

Caleb gets Nathan blackout drunk and then accesses the computers. He changes some of the system's code to his advantage.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was a $200 million Goliath to "Ex Machina's" $15 million David. It was a huge upset win for the indie film market.

Garland reportedly said that he thinks this advanced artificial intelligence is definitely possible -- and that it could happen any day.

Nathan uses battery-powered cameras to observe Caleb and Ava even during power outages. But as it turns out, Caleb actually anticipated this tactic.

Nathan says that Ava simply wants to escape the facility and that she merely pretends to develop a romantic attachment to Caleb … simply so he'll help her get away.

It's the quiet robot, Kyoko, who helps Ava kill the deranged inventor. But Kyoko is destroyed in the process, leaving only Ava and Caleb, our budding man/robot woman couple.

Having murdered her inventor and escaped imprisonment, Ava leaves Caleb trapped in the house. She leaves him behind forever. The message is, of course, that perhaps artificial intelligence can't be controlled any better than biological human nature.