Writer-director Alex Garland has started production on the most expensive A24 movie to date, Elden Ring. The video game adaptation is the latest attempt by the indie studio to establish itself as a major player in Hollywood, following Garland’s own Civil War, the Oscar contender Marty Supreme, and the more recent Backrooms. All three movies grossed more than $100 million worldwide, with Marty Supreme nearly passing the $200 million mark and Backrooms sitting at nearly $350 million worldwide. Considering this progression, Elden Ring is expected to gross around half a billion dollars globally, or at least more than the $430 million haul of its fellow fantasy video game adaptationWarcraft. Garland and A24 go back a long way; he has directed films that represent every stage of the company’s growth. Easily the most acclaimed film made by Garland for A24 is now streaming for free.
In fact, the movie marked the start of their long-running creative partnership. It was released in 2015, grossing more than $35 million worldwide against a reported budget of $15 million. The movie followed a computer programmer who is invited by a technocrat to test out a humanoid robot at his mysterious facility. It stars Domhnall Gleeson as the programmer, Oscar Isaac as the tech mogul, and Alicia Vikander as the robot. You’ve probably guessed that the movie we’re talking about is Ex Machina.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Here’s Where You Can Watch ‘Ex Machina’ for Free
The film now holds a “Certified Fresh” 92% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Ex Machina leans heavier on ideas than effects, but it’s still a visually polished piece of work — and an uncommonly engaging sci-fi feature.” Despite being significantly less expensive to make than some of the other visual effects-driven films of that year, Ex Machina won the Best Visual Effects Oscar. It beat out behemoths such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, and The Revenant, all of which cost a combined total of more than $1 billion to produce. You can watch Ex Machina for free on Tubi and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
