Review: Morgan

For those who felt Ex Machina might have benefited from being less interesting and more mediocre, then Morgan is the artificial intelligence thriller for you.

The film begins with a stabbing and ends with a drowning, both acts committed by humanoids made from synthetic DNA. There's philosophising in between about nature vs. nurture and do androids dream of electric sheep, but it's difficult to be invested when layers of portent are slathered over a fairly risible screenplay populated with characters, most of whom lack an ounce of common sense and who have undergone a sustained lapse in logic.

How else to explain the collective decision by a group of doctors and scientists to remain in their remote lab after Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy of The Witch) claws out the eye of one of her guardians, Dr. Kathy Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh, thoroughly wasted). The reason given is that Morgan is more than a mere corporate product; she is very much their child, born and bred in their lab out of synthetic DNA. In their eyes, Morgan is a child to be protected. In the eyes of Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), she's an asset to be managed, possibly even discontinued.

Lee is a risk management consultant dispatched by a generally unseen corporation to investigate the incident and determine if Morgan is still a viable product. There's mention of an occurrence in Helsinki, but one may as well talk of kangaroos in Alaska, so unexplored is this tidbit. Lee's cold professionalism feels more in line with Morgan's unnervingly calm menace than with the bunch of delusional cuckoo birds that inhabit the compound. Amongst them: Dr. Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones), who shows off video footage of Morgan to Lee like a proud papa; Dr. Lui Cheng (Michelle Yeoh), the designated "mother"; and Dr. Amy Menser (Rose Leslie), the behaviorist who is Morgan's closest friend.

It's all pretty ho-hum until Paul Giamatti shows up as Dr. Alan Shapiro to conduct Morgan's psychiatric evaluation. The script doesn't get any better, but Giamatti's wonderfully smug performance enlivens the film and also heralds the final act's bloodletting. There are supposed twists, but most if not all are pretty obvious from the get-go so it's hard to muster any surprise or enthusiasm.

It's a shame that the film veers quite sharply into that overblown finale since there are some tantalising themes broached in Seth Owen's screenplay. However, those themes are nowhere near as intriguingly explored as they were in last year's Ex Machina, which also greatly benefited from excellent performances and a surety in execution. Luke Scott, son of Ridley, does well in his feature film debut - he has a good sense of pacing, he knows how to build suspense - but he's not quite fully formed in his sensibilities. Still there's enough potential displayed here that bodes well for a promising career.

Morgan

Directed by: Luke Scott

Written by: Seth Owen

Starring: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Michelle Yeoh, Boyd Holbrook, Chris Sullivan, Michael Yare, Vinette Robinson, Brian Cox