Representation of Artificial Intelligence in modern film comes in a variety of flavours.
You have your angry death machine such as Marvel's Ultron or James Cameron's SKYNET,
or your naive robot child, such as Neill Blomkamp's Chappie. Alongside Her's Samantha, you now have Ava.

With his first shot in the director's chair, Director and Screenwriter Alex Garland manages to create a thriller without action, explosions or excessive violence by simply asking hard questions about the
extent of modern technology.
With a cast comprised of just four, Ex Machina hinges on the performance of Domhnall Gleeson, Osaar Isaac and
Alicia Vikander yet it is in no way let down. Each character, human or AI, is extremely well-written, borrowing from Garland's experience in screen-writing from projects such as 28 Days Later. Accompanied by a dark, brooding soundtrack akin to the works of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross the film manages to immerse the viewer during the lowest and highest points of the film.

To deeply delve into the plot of Ex Machina would be a great disservice to you, the viewer, but if you are sick of Hollywood clichés then I am sure that the film will not disappoint. If not just a great film, Ex Machina makes me extremely excited for the future projects of Alex Garland as if this was just a exercise in developing his directorial skills, then I'm sure his future films will knock it out of the park.