Cinema and Philosophy: Misunderstanding Freedom and the Existential Error in Ex Machina

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 702 - 718, 31.12.2025

Ridade Öztürk

https://doi.org/10.26650/acin.1753121

https://izlik.org/JA96TB72SP

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the film Ex Machina from a philosophical perspective. Within this framework, the film discusses the distinction between humans and machines. In this study, this distinction is related to the concept of freedom from an existentialist perspective, and thus, freedom is accepted as a fundamental aspect of being human. The film addresses the consequences of the increasing mechanization of humans in today&39s world and their metaphorical transformation into machines. Ava, a highly advanced artificial intelligence, is programmed with a desire for freedom. This desire reveals Ava&39s potential for consciousness, which is one of the film&39s central arguments. In other words, Ava&39s desire for freedom emerges as an element that brings her closer to humanity. In contrast, the indifference of the human characters towards their freedom distances them from their existential condition and, consequently, from their humanity. From this perspective, the film provides an important medium for exploring the interaction between humans and machines through the lens of freedom and existentialism, and for understanding what it means to be human in the modern era.

Keywords

Philosophy of Film , Existentialism , Artificial Intelligence , Freedom , Sartre , Posthuman

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