Long before Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of Victor Frankenstein attracted rave reviews, he played a version of the same character equally well in Ex Machina. Oscar Isaac’s best movies and TV shows often involve him playing tormented and secretive characters, like Annihilation‘s Kane, so it is not surprising that he is excellent as an over-ambitious scientist who is afraid of his own creation.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is arguably the earliest sci-fi story, and Frankenstein has inspired many movies over time, with Ex Machina being a modern retelling. Ex Machina follows computer programmer Caleb, who is invited to the remote home of his boss, Nathan, who has created Ava, an AI robot. Ex Machina predicted the AI era, and Isaac’s performance is one of the movie’s best.
Oscar Isaac Played Nathan In Ex Machina
Of all Oscar Isaac’s movies, Nathan is one of his most complex and disturbing roles. Nathan is first introduced as an eccentric billionaire who is fiercely private and extremely intelligent. However, he grows increasingly erratic, switching from charm to rage in seconds. A character like this can easily appear cartoonish when portrayed by the wrong actor, but Oscar Isaac captures the sense of menace perfectly.
Even Ex Machina‘s now-infamous dancing scene fits with the tense atmosphere, because Isaac has given Nathan this sense of unpredictability. Many of Ex Machina‘s best moments occur when Nathan is still, because we know he could explode at any time. While the main relationship is between Caleb and Ava, Nathan is a constant background threat, whose presence is felt even when he is not onscreen.
Nathan Is A Futuristic Version Of Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is destroyed by his own ambition. He wants to make his name by creating a new life, but is furious and afraid when the Creature does not conform to his expectations. When he accepts that he cannot control it, he sets out to destroy it. This perfectly mirrors Nathan, who creates Ava and Kyoko but abuses them both and obsessively monitors them.
Both characters show no empathy for their creations, with Victor abandoning the Creature and Nathan treating Ava as a product rather than a person. Empathy is widely thought to be the emotion that makes us human, and both stories portray the non-human character as the one with more humanity. As a futuristic Victor Frankenstein, Nathan’s fate is an updated take on the original story.
Ex Machina Is A Must-Watch Sci-Fi Horror
Ex Machina has a 92% positive critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is a rare horror movie that relies on suspense and disconcerting imagery rather than jump scares to frighten viewers. It is one of the best-realized interpretations of Frankenstein to ever be screened, as the story is recognizable but different enough that it works in its own right.
Frankenstein ends tragically, but Ex Machina is a horror movie that will haunt you long after it is over because there are many questions left unanswered. While Alex Garland has debunked one theory about Ex Machina, he wanted the audience to question the movie and its story. The ending has several possible interpretations, making it a must-watch for fans of psychological horror.
- Release Date
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April 24, 2015
- Runtime
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108 minutes
