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Ex Machina poster

Movies that feel likeEx Machina (2015)

Caleb, a coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.

If you loved Ex Machina, the closest films we have are The Wall (2012), Chronicle (2012) and Moon (2009). All three share Ex Machina's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003).

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Alex Garlandcontemplativecerebralwarmlonely
6 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Apple TV

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If Ex Machina hit the spot, these will too

The Wall poster
The Wall
2012 · dir. Julian Pölsler
🍅 76%★ 6.7science fiction · dramaPrime Video

One person sealed off from the world, thinking their way through it

The difference: Nature replaces technology — a haunting inward drift, no thriller

A woman inexplicably finds herself cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the countryside. Accompanied by her loyal dog Lynx, she becomes immersed in a world untouched by civilization and ruled by the laws of nature.

Chronicle poster
Chronicle
2012 · dir. Josh Trank
🍅 85%★ 7science fiction · drama · thriller

Power tested by young men who shouldn't be trusted with it

The difference: Found-footage escalation — spectacle where Garland stays coiled

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

Moon poster
Moon
2009 · dir. Duncan Jones
🍅 90%★ 7.8science fiction · drama

A remote station, an AI companion and a truth someone engineered

The difference: Melancholy over menace — its AI may be the kindest presence

With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring poster
🍅 94%★ 8drama

A cloistered world where a master shapes a student's becoming

The difference: Buddhist seasons, not sci-fi — serenity in place of suspense

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

Perfect Days poster
Perfect Days
2023 · dir. Wim Wenders
🍅 96%★ 7.9dramaRent or buy

Solitude rendered with care — routine as its own quiet world

The difference: Zero plot machinery — gentle days, no deception anywhere

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

The Martian poster
The Martian
2015 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 91%★ 8science fiction · drama · adventureRent or buy

One resourceful mind against total isolation, step by careful step

The difference: Sunny problem-solving — optimism instead of dread

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Passengers poster
Passengers
2016 · dir. Morten Tyldum
🍅 30%★ 7drama · romance · science fiction

Isolation, temptation and an act of control that poisons intimacy

The difference: A glossy romance wants forgiveness — it blinks where Garland doesn't

A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.

I Am Legend poster
I Am Legend
2007 · dir. Francis Lawrence
🍅 68%★ 7.2drama · science fiction · thriller

Contemplative and cerebral in the same breath

The difference: Trades the warmth of Ex Machina for an angle of its own

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.

Room poster
Room
2015 · dir. Lenny Abrahamson
🍅 93%★ 8.1drama · thrillerMax

A captive slowly working out how to escape a controlled world

The difference: Raw human trauma — no sci-fi remove to soften it

Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

Sleep Dealer poster
Sleep Dealer
2008 · dir. Alex Rivera
🍅 73%★ 6drama · science fiction · thriller

Both lean on loneliness more than on drama

The difference: Takes it somewhere less warm than Ex Machina does

Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology.

Her poster
Her
2013 · dir. Spike Jonze
🍅 95%★ 8romance · science fiction · dramaApple TV+

Falling for an artificial mind that may understand you too well

The difference: Tender where Garland is icy — heartbreak, not a trap

In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.

My Blueberry Nights poster
My Blueberry Nights
2007 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 45%★ 6.6drama · romancePrime VideoStarz

The same preoccupation in both: friendship

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Elizabeth has just been through a particularly nasty breakup, and now she's ready to leave her friends and memories behind as she chases her dreams across the country. In order to support herself on her journey, Elizabeth picks up a series of waitress jobs along the way. As Elizabeth crosses paths with a series of lost souls whose yearnings are even greater than her own, their emotional turmoil ultimately helps her gain a greater understanding of her own problems...

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The best-reviewed films that share Ex Machina’s defining feeling.