This Wal-Mart version of Ex Machina started off better than expected but then got worse and worse until it became so bad I suspect it was ashamed of itself at the end.

There's a neat story here about a genius programmer (Toby Stephens) who assists the military in developing a cyborg super weapon. But he's doing it to get funding to do research that will help him save his daughter who is suffering from some kind of severe brain trauma. He hires an assistant (played by Caity Lotz), whose brilliant work in artificial intelligence will help him reach his goal. Lotz is really good here, first as the lovely scientist and later as a butt-kicking but tender cyborg. The movie feels like it was done very cheaply as most of the movie takes place in dark labs and other small areas. It's a pretty good science fiction story without any gore that stands out.

Bit different.

Apparently, I watched this in 2019 too. Didn't remember it. Enjoyed rewatching, but not great.

>"How do I know that you're alive and not just a clever imitation of life?" Huge Ex Machina vibes but on a much lower budget. The premise and action is pretty good, but does leave you wishing you had a little more time to see things play out more.