10 Fascinating Facts About ‘Ex Machina‘

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Alex Garland had been in the movie industry for 20 years before making his directorial debut with Ex Machina, a cerebral sci-fi look at what it is to be—or not be—human. It follows Caleb (Domnhall Gleeson), a computer programmer recruited by reclusive tech billionaire Nathan () to perform a test on Ava (Alicia Vikander), a strikingly humanlike robot. This leads to questions of empathy, ethics, and the nature of existence, all shrouded in mystery, alcohol, and the occasional touch of disco dancing. Here are 10 things you might not know about the Oscar-winning film, which is nearing its 10th anniversary.

1. Ex Machina used Tinder as part of its promotional campaign.

When the film was shown at SXSW, some festival attendees found themselves ever so slightly duped. A promotional bot was set up using images of Alicia Vikander and chatting to matches as her character Ava before directing them to the film‘s Instagram account. A bot of a bot. Layers on layers.