Domhnall Gleeson

D

While there were many films screened during this year's Gold Coast Film Festival, arguably one of the most important would be the ending night film. Out of so many they would have had to choose from, the festival team decided to settle with Ex Machina. With an almost full theatre to impress, it fell to this film to end the fantastic festival on a positive note - a challenge it succeeded in achieving. In my opinion, the film lacked a bit of the mass market appeal which could draw large crowds to see it. But like many of the niche appeal of many other films at the festival, I do not consider this to be a barrier. Instead, what it did provide in its almost two-hour runtime was an intellectual and thought-provoking storyline, complemented with some out of the box ideas which I personally found intriguing.