is one of the year's most welcome surprises, although it really shouldn't have been given first-time director Alex Garland has previous form with books () and screenplays (), showing a talent for storytelling and an ability to stretch his concepts to the limits of the imagination.

Here we are in artificial intelligence territory with a young computer wizard (Domhnall Gleeson) picked to spend time with a genius CEO (Oscar Isaac) as he tests the result of his latest experiment. That it comes in the form of Alicia Vikander as the robot Ava certainly helps stoke the dweeb's interest and there are a series of engaging and insightful exchanges between the pair.

The plan is that the kid's natural curiosity and questions will help reveal how much the creation relies on programming and how much it has developed on its own.

As with other films that have tackled this concept before - the replicants of Ridley Scott's are one case among many - we are steered towards pondering the meaning of perfection, of mortality, of "being". It's thoughtful and thought-provoking stuff, made all the more engaging by its three leads and how they fully flesh out characters both human and not.