Ex Machina Page #13

CALEB:

Wouldn't it?

NATHAN lets the question hang.

Behind them, KYOKO prepares dinner in the kitchen area.

NATHAN:

What's your type, Caleb?

CALEB:

Of girl?

NATHAN:

No, of salad dressing. Yes, of

girl. In fact, don't even answer.

Let's say it's black chicks.

NATHAN brushes away whatever protestation CALEB might be

about to make.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

For the sake of argument, that's

your thing. So - why is it your

thing? Because you did a detailed

study of all racial types, and

cross-referenced the study with a

points-based system? No. You just

are attracted to black chicks.

(MORE)

58.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

A consequence of accumulated

external stimulus, that you

probably didn't even register as

they registered with you.

CALEB:

So did you program her to like me

or not?

NATHAN shrugs. Insouciant.

NATHAN:

I programmed her to be

heterosexual. Just like you were

programmed to be heterosexual.

CALEB:

Nobody programmed me to be

straight.

NATHAN:

But you are attracted to her.

CALEB:

This is childish.

NATHAN:

No, this is adult. And by the way,

you decided to be straight?

Please. Of course you were

programmed. By nature or nurture,

or both.

NATHAN stands.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

To be honest, Caleb, you're kind of

annoying me now. This is your

insecurity talking, not your

intellect.

CALEB opens his mouth to reply, but NATHAN shuts him down.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

Come with me.

50A 50A

INT. HOUSE/POLLOCK ROOM - DAY

NATHAN and CALEB stand in front of the Pollock drip painting.

NATHAN:

You know this guy, right?

CALEB:

Jackson Pollock.

59.

NATHAN:

Jackson Pollock. The drip painter.

He let his mind go blank, and his

hand go where it wanted. Not

deliberate, not random. Someplace

in between. They called it

automatic art.

NATHAN gazes at the canvas.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

Let's make this like Star Trek,

okay? Engage intellect.

CALEB:

... What?

NATHAN:

I'm Kirk. Your head is the warp

drive. `Engage intellect'. What

if Pollock had reversed the

challenge? Instead of trying to

make art without thinking, he said:

I can't paint anything unless I

know exactly why I'm doing it.

What would have happened?

CALEB thinks.

CALEB:

He never would have made a single

mark.

NATHAN clicks his fingers.

NATHAN:

See? There's my guy. There's my

buddy, who actually thinks before

he opens his mouth. He'd never

have made a single mark. The

challenge is not to act

automatically. It's to find an

action that is not automatic. From

talking, to breathing, to painting.

NATHAN glances back at CALEB.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

To f***ing. Even falling in love.

A beat.

NATHAN kills his beer.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

For the record, Ava is not acting

as if she likes you.

(MORE)

60.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

And her flirting isn't an algorithm

to fake you out. You're the first

man she's ever seen who isn't me.

And I'm like her dad, right? So

can you blame her for getting a

crush on you?

NATHAN glazes a moment. Then comes back.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

No. You can't.

51 51

INT. HOUSE/OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT

In her room, AVA stands in front of the mirror.

She is wearing the summer dress she put on earlier.

Checking her reflection from different angles.

Subtly girlish. Unself-conscious.

Then -

- she starts to take the dress off.

Throughout the narrative, we have almost only ever seen AVA

in an unclothed form. But now - having been clothed - the

undressing seems to make her naked.

And the act itself feels charged. Sexualised, in the way the

clothing is unbuttoned, and dropped, and her shape is

revealed.

Finally, once she is completely undressed -

- AVA turns. And glances.

Straight at the camera.

CUT TO -

52 52

INT. HOUSE/CALEB'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

- CALEB.

In his bedroom.

Watching AVA, at this exact angle.

CUT TO -

53 53

EXT. RIVER - DAY

- the river.

61.

On the bank, a little distance from the house, there is a

dead animal. Its species is indistinct. It's little more

than a bundle of matted brown hair.

Its lower half lies in the water.

The quick moving river has stripped the bones of flesh, skin,

and fur.

REVEAL KYOKO in the background. Watching the river.

54 54

INT. HOUSE/GLASS CORRIDOR - DAY

CALEB exits his room -

- to find NATHAN in the glass corridor.

Waiting for him.

NATHAN:

Hey.

CALEB:

... Hey.

Beat.

NATHAN:

I want to show you something cool.

55 55

INT. HOUSE/GLASS CORRIDOR - DAY

NATHAN swipes his card against a plate.

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