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Ex Machina Returns to Netflix With Fresh Urgency in the AI Age

Viewers say its interrogation of AI sentience, tech power, manipulation feels newly urgent.

Overview

  • Netflix has re-added Alex Garland’s 2014 sci‑fi thriller in early February 2026, with Forbes noting a brief stint on the platform in October before its return.
  • The story follows a programmer invited to a tech CEO’s isolated compound to conduct a modified Turing test on an advanced robot named Ava.
  • Alicia Vikander performed Ava in person, and the film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for its seamless blend of performance and VFX.
  • New write-ups connect the film’s themes to today’s generative‑AI debates, highlighting its critique of concentrated tech influence and gendered exploitation.
  • Reviewers emphasize the movie’s confined, dialogue‑driven design and small cast, which create a taut, psychological chamber piece.