Movies like Ex Machina for AI suspense and uneasy relationships

Decide whether you want the ideas or the pressure

Ex Machina (2015) puts a programmer inside his employer's attempt to assess an artificial intelligence. A24's premise makes the test explicit, but the viewer also has to assess the humans administering it. That combination produces several possible next films.

An AI label alone is a weak match. Someone who enjoyed the conversations may dislike a violent action film, while someone who loved the tightening situation may find a reflective romance too gentle. The following choices preserve different parts of the experience.

Your priority	Film	What to expect
Isolation and uncertainty about the system around someone	Moon (2009)	A small-scale lunar mystery
Emotional dependence on artificial intelligence	Her (2013)	A relationship drama with a speculative premise
Questions about artificial life without thriller intensity	After Yang (2022 US release)	Patient family science fiction
A struggle over who controls a body	Upgrade (2018)	Graphic action and revenge

Moon: the closest route to contained unease

Sam Bell is nearing the end of a work assignment on a lunar base. His restricted surroundings and the employer operating beyond them make Moon a useful choice for someone who liked Ex Machina's limited setting and uncertain balance of power. Sony Pictures Classics supplies the film's production information.

Go in knowing little beyond the setup. The appeal is watching routine become questionable, rather than touring an elaborate future world. Choose it when you can pay attention to a single character's changing understanding. Skip it if you want a large cast, action spectacle or the same charged relationship between tester and subject.

Her: keep the intimacy and change the mood

Theodore, who is struggling after a relationship ends, becomes attached to a sophisticated operating system. Producer Annapurna describes that starting point. The film asks what a person wants from an intelligence that appears to understand them.

Our reason to recommend it is the emotional imbalance such a relationship can create. Its melancholy and awkward humor suit a different evening from Ex Machina's enclosed menace. Skip it when you want danger to drive the story, or when romantic loneliness is a subject you would rather avoid.

After Yang: consider an artificial life through its absence

A father attempts to understand his daughter's malfunctioning AI companion. A24 lists the film at 96 minutes. It trades confrontation for observation and gives family attachment more space than technological spectacle.

Choose this if your lingering question concerns the value of an artificial person's experiences. Skip it if slow pacing frustrates you. The gentler presentation does not make its treatment of loss emotionally weightless.

Upgrade: move from a test room into physical danger

An experimental implant gives an injured man extraordinary capabilities as he pursues revenge. Universal identifies the film as a 2018 action thriller and lists strong violence and grisly images in its rating information.

The connection is agency: what happens when technology can act through a human? The major difference is how physically the film expresses that question. Choose it for momentum and bodily stakes. Skip it if you liked Ex Machina's verbal tension but avoid graphic injury. This is the largest intensity jump in the shortlist.

Make the shortlist personal

Our default is Moon for suspense, Her for relationships and After Yang for a quieter evening. Upgrade belongs on the list only when the violence is welcome.

ReelRecs can supply another perspective based on your ratings of films and shows, including favorites outside science fiction. Search a candidate and inspect its actual explanation rather than assuming that liking Ex Machina settles the choice. The title-check guide shows how to assess a known title and inspect provider options. Verify the provider's current access terms separately; none of these recommendations promises an included stream.