Ex Machina is a powerful movie posing existential questions — which the director said was surprisingly easy to make.
Courtesy of SXSW [https://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_FS17780]
What does it mean to be human? Viewers are forced to ponder this existential question and more in Ex Machina, a stunning science fiction thriller that began garnering buzz long before it hit European theaters in January.
Ahead of its highly anticipated U.S. release on April 10, SXSW Film attendees got a sneak peek of the movie that compels audiences to reflect on their own humanity. Actor Oscar Isaac told CultureMap that the festival was the perfect place for a screening because of the huge technology scene.
The story centers around an intelligent computer programmer (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who is asked to study a gorgeous robot woman. Her artificial intelligence is so convincing, in fact, she even caused a stir on Tinder during SXSW.
Despite a dense plot, intense marketing ploys and potential existential crises, writer and director Alex Garland said making the film was easier than it looks — and it looks amazing. "This is the easiest film I've worked on. By miles," Garland told us on the red carpet.
The story was different for those in front of the camera. "There was a bit of a challenge for the actors," Garland said. "We had to shoot it in six weeks, which is quick. So for them, there was a lot pressure to sort of get things right fast so we can move on."
Watch our interview with Garland above, and check out quick red carpet snippets from Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson.
YouTube culture has made its way onto movie screens in a big way in 2026, with several content creators — most notably Kane Parson with Backrooms and Curry Barker with Obsession — making waves. So it’s only natural for movies to integrate the idea of YouTube content into their stories, as is the case in How to Rob a Bank.
The film throws the audience right into the action as Ryan (Nicholas Hoult), Emi (Anna Sawai), Vince (Pete Davidson), Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz), and other people wearing various animal masks commit their latest bank robbery, recording everything they do for their video channel. The hyper-stylized way in which they edit the videos is designed for maximum engagement, but also as a way to give the middle finger to authorities who have yet to catch them.
FBI Agent John West (John C. Reilly) is at a loss as to how to stop the group until he discovers an algorithm used by Reagan Gardner (Zoë Kravitz) that can comb social media and other things on the internet to triangulate anyone’s location. The cat-and-mouse game plays out as the criminal group tries to accomplish their mission of exposing banks and corporations for their corruption.
Directed by David Leitch (The Fall Guy) and written by Mark Bianculli, the film has a timely message that never quite lands. The rollicking nature of the robberies, their accompanying videos, and the fact that they give away some of the money to charity puts the audience on the side of the criminals. But when the film starts to delve into their maudlin personal stories, the shift in tones is jarring and not convincing.
Leitch and Bianculli also have difficulty figuring out how much to showcase certain characters. The robbers are composed of four main members, but there are at least two more of them who fade in and out of the story without explanation. Reagan is made to seem like an important character, but the technology she made is barely explained, and she too gets sidelined in a way that feels like the filmmakers left much of her story on the cutting room floor.
The filmmakers short circuit their own storytelling by trying to get the point too quickly. Instead of following the standard cops-and-robbers playbook that is unoriginal but still satisfying, they arrive at the usual end well before the movie finishes, and have to find ways to fill the time afterward. The film is much too long at 122 minutes, with much of the fun washed away by unnecessary digressions.
Hoult is a fine actor who should be a much bigger star by this point in his career. He’s convincing as the leader of this particular gang, but he never elevates the role. Reilly has his moments as an FBI agent, but he can’t seem to decide whether he wants to be serious or funny. Kravitz is not given much to do in her role, while Davidson is miscast in his. Lesser-knowns like Sawai and Feliz give good performances, but are overshadowed by the stars.
How to Rob a Bank works best when it leans into the anarchic nature of its main group, as the viral nature of the videos they create is solid commentary on both YouTube as a medium and the righteous anger many feel toward an unjust system. But Leitch and Bianculli can’t find a grip on the deeper parts of the story, leading to an up-and-mostly-down experience.
---
How to Rob a Bank opens in theaters on November 13.
