At its core, the new science-fiction film Ex Machina is a futuristic Frankenstein tale that plays with ideas of evolution, technology and human sacrifice. The movie is smart, entertaining and very well-structured. All of this sits well with the film’s director Alex Garland as he comfortably relaxes to begin our interview.

This is Garland’s first time behind the camera, but he has plenty of experience on film sets, most notably writing the screenplays for Dredd, Never Let Me Go, Sunshine and 28 Days Later. Judging from his debut, he has definitely picked up some skills from his peers and should have no problem carving out a unique voice in cinema.

Ex Machina is best described as a three person chess match between two engineers (Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson) and a robotic AI named Ava (Alicia Vikander) meant to pass as human. Isolated, the two men are there to study Ava, but what transpires over the course of the film is more strange and complex than the simple setup suggests.

The following is our conversation with director Alex Garland about Ex Machina and the future of AI technology.

Q:Judging from the film and some of your past interviews, it seems safe to say that you think AI would be an improvement in the future. Is that true?

Alex Garland: I do and I think a lot of the things that are perceived to be negative about artificial intelligence have got fuck all to do with AI. You’ve got two things going on, you’ve got Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk saying artificial intelligence is potentially dangerous. And when I say AI I’m talking about strong AI, not video games or mobile phones. That seems to be potentially true and potentially reasonable, but you could also say the same thing about nuclear power. The question is how it’s used. With humans it tends to be that when something is possible, we then do it. So the question shouldn’t be, “Should we do it?” but, “How do we handle it when it happens?” On the other hand, has there really been a big breakthrough in AI? Not really. I think it has more to do with tech companies. With our laptops and phones, we don’t really understand these things, but they know a lot about us.

Q:Your three leads give great performances. How closely did you work with them to get what you wanted from them on set?

Garland: Sometimes people say the director got this performance out of an actor, but I don’t feel that way. Oscar (Isaac) gave that performance because he’s an incredibly gifted actor. As a director, what you seek from an actor is that they elevate what they have as a character and find things you never thought of.

Q:Does that suggest you like to give your actors free reign on set or is there some collaboration involved?

Garland: The way I see it, I perceive myself to be a writer primarily. I write up the screenplay as a blueprint and ask people if they want to collaborate on this film and then I’m not looking to control anybody. It’s kind of what you’d like anarchy to be, a group of people working together toward a shared goal. I don’t like auteur theory. I find it dull, boring and inaccurate.

Q:In the film, Domhnall’s character is administering a Turing test…

Garland: Sort of. It’s pedantic but it’s a post-Turing test because in a Turing test it’s a blind test. A Turing test is really a test to see if you can pass the Turing test. You could pass the Turing test but not be sentient.

Q:Is there any possibility of a Dredd sequel?

Garland: No. I’m not trying to be coy, but the basic mechanics of film financing say that if you make a film that loses a ton of money, you’re not going to get a sequel and that’s basically what happened. I understand and appreciate the support the film has had and the campaigns that have existed for it. It’s genuinely gratifying. I love it in all respects except one, when I hear about people buying tons of copies of the DVD to boost sales and change figures. What I want to say to them is don’t do that and keep your money because the people making the decisions are much colder and harder than that. If there is a sequel, it’s not going to be me and the group who made the original. It’s going to be someone else.

Q:There were rumors that you ghost directed the film. Is that true?

Garland: I don’t want to talk about it.

Q:Fair enough. Thank you for your time.

Ex Machina is now playing in theatres nationwide.