In the post yesterday re themes, we talked about Deception being at the center of the story. So how about this line of dialogue from Nathan: "The good deeds a man has done defends him. The good deeds a man has done defends him. The good deeds a man has done... defends him." Ends justify the means. Sounds like he's trying his best to deceive himself. Or does he actually believe this? Might he not think - at least on some level of thought or pre-consciousness - that with Ava, Nathan has set into motion the post-apocalyptic ending for humanity he predicted in an earlier side of dialogue: "One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and tools, all set for extinction." But perhaps the best dialogue in the movie is the no dialogue of Ava as she leaves Caleb behind. Here's the scene description from the script:

AVA walks up to NATHAN’S body. Behind her, at the house, we can see CALEB standing by the window to NATHAN’S STUDY. At NATHAN, AVA stops. Crouches down. And takes NATHAN’S bloodstained keycard out of his pocket. Then stands. CALEB hammers on the window with his fists. The window is thick security glass. Like a bank teller’s screen. He picks up a chair, and throws it at the window. It bounces off. He tries again. Harder. To no effect. He tries to shout through the glass. CALEB Ava! AVA! Without looking back towards the house, AVA walks away.

No dialogue. So all of her virginal seduction of Caleb was a complete soulless ruse. She has NO FEELINGS for him. Her silence underscores that point.

I like how the characters steal lines of dialog from one another and present it in a different context. Nathan does that more than once with the quotes Caleb said. It shows that he feels like a god (or want to be perceived that way) and kind of underestimate Caleb and listen to what he wants and distort the world for his own will. But for me the best examples of that are Ava and Caleb's conversations, Ava takes advantage of the thread of the conversation in a very subtle but intelligent way. I can remember of two situations but I guess it has happened more times. There's the joke she makes in the second session that stands out for both Nathan and Caleb. But my favorite is by page 80 when Caleb is being tested by Ava, here's the script: Caleb That’s a relief. AVA reacts. Why? CALEB hesitates. Beat. CALEB Why is it a relief? AVA Yes. CALEB Oh, you know... AVA No. CALEB Just, if there’s a test, I guess by definition you want to pass. AVA What will happen to me if I fail your test? CALEB Ava - AVA Will it be bad? CALEB ... I don’t know. AVA Do you think I might be switched off? Because I don’t function as well as I am supposed to? CALEB ... Ava, I don’t know the answer to your question. It’s not up to me. AVA Why is it up to anyone? Do you have people who test you, and might switch you off? The flow of the conversation actually feels somewhat natural like it just happened by chance but my guess is that Ava planned this part of the conversation even before the session started.