The plot reminds me of World’s Greatest Dad.

Stegrelo might be Paul Rudd.

This is the kind of thing that makes Musk a Trump-level choice for SNL. The stuff he does in the name of profit is horrible, of course, but unfortunately common.

#UncutTheZombieDick

Your mention of dogs reminded me of Ava’s final smile in the compound. She knows she’s free, and that no one can see her anymore, yet she smiles. The filmmaker has said this moment is the proof of consciousness.

Your take is what Garland was going for, according to the panel clip I posted down thread. He views it as a positive ending.

I found the panel. It’s all interesting, but the part relevant to creator intention starts at 42:45.  (Feminism isn’t discussed quite how I remembered.)

There’s a unique discomfort to Alex Garland’s movies. Not just in atmosphere, but in asking difficult questions, confronting unpleasant emotion. I just finished his television series Devs and enjoyed it, too.

Thank you for this thought-provoking response.

I think my sociopathic idea came from a brief moment before Ava leaves the compound. She approaches the stairway exit (I think she can still hear Caleb screaming), but stops for a moment and looks back.  No reason to do so.  Then, she turns and climbs. It’s that pause that told me she was more than a machine, that she…

It’s plausible she viewed his freedom as a threat. I considered that in the past. As for Alex Garland’s intentions, a panel interview I saw years ago showed him a bit at odds with how some viewers received the film. He seemed definitely on Ava’s side (as I was, until the Caleb decision). But he also expressed surprise…

Love the movie, but have issues with the ending. It seems to want viewers to celebrate Ava’s escape into the world, but I couldn’t get past her deliberate choice to lock Caleb in a room where he’d eventually starve to death. She could have left him behind without locking him in. Killing the guy just for being a love…

Wow.  What a gut punch that would have been.

He left this world as blank as a fart.

Ophelia Lovibond’s porn name:  Kitty Winter

.

.

Oh god.  I forgot all about the butler scene.

If, like me, Spider-Man 2 is one of your favorite movies, then 3 hurt all the worse. But we’re not talking about a movie content with ruining 2's continuation. It reached back into the first installment to retcon Uncle Ben’s death.

It didn’t hit me at the time, but Scott Malkinson was the perfect kid to lead the Qties. Last we saw him, he was struggling to find an identity beyond his diabetes. That’s exactly the kind of hollowness that people try to fill with conspiracy theories.

I remember a character in the book Infinite Jest rigs one so he can commit suicide. As per usual with David Foster Wallace, there’s probably a lengthy footnote describing how to do it.