Deus Ex Machina

Definition

The phrase deus ex machina refers to a plot device where the conflict is resolved by an unexpected and unlikely event. These sudden interventions are often criticised by the audience because they can break the story’s internal logic and undermine our connection with the characters. Writers try to avoid this device by making sure resolutions come from well-established elements within the narrative.

Toy Story 4

The phrase deus ex machina literally means “god from the machine” and originates from the practice in ancient Greek and Roman theatre of using a crane to lower a god onto the stage to resolve the plot. Let’s begin with “The Claw” from Toy Story 3 (2010) to illustrate the narrative concept:

In this scene, our band of heroes are thrown onto a conveyor belt leading to an incinerator. They desperately try to escape but they realise their fiery destruction is inevitable. It is an incredibly touching moment when they accept their fate and reach out to hold each other’s hands.

Their eyes close. This is the end.

The camera cuts from a close-up of Woody to a point-of-view shot of the industrial claw dropping from the heavenly light. Our heroes are scooped up and rescued by Andy’s Aliens!

Although this miraculous intervention seems sudden, the scene does refer to the claw vending machine at Pizza Planet in the first film and the construction vehicle toy earlier in this story. The animators also try to set up this action by depicting the aliens running towards the industrial claw at the landfill site. The audience may have assumed they were killed by the bulldozer, so it is quite a satisfying revelation to see them save our favourite toys.

Jurassic Park

A less successful deus ex machina is the sudden appearance of the tyrannosaurus rex in Jurassic Park (1993) when the main characters are trapped by the vicious velociraptors in the visitor centre. Without much setup, the king of the dinosaurs attacks the raptors and resolves the immediate danger.

The scene is full of great tension. The shot beginning with the young girl falling through the access panel in the crawl space and the velociraptor then pouncing at her feet is particularly frightening.

On the lobby floor, the predators trap the helpless group in a pincer movement. There is no escape.

Luckily, the huge tyrannosaurus rex appears from nowhere, enabling the characters to flee out the front door to the jeep that has just arrived. Great timing.

However, it is important to recognise the creativity of the filmmakers in this scene because the image of the monster clamping down on the raptor is a wonderful cinematic spectacle that pushed the potential of CGI at that time.

The Rise of Skywalker

Dei ex machina are sudden and unexpected solutions to hopeless problems. These actions are usually external to the characters and seem disconnected from the internal logic of the diegesis. We can loosen this strict definition of the plot device to include other beats of the story that seem contrived and rushed.

For example, many Star Wars fans were very critical of Emperor Palpatine’s absurd return in The Rise of Skywalker (2019) because they were certain the character died at the end of the original trilogy. The previous sequels offered no suggestion the villain had survived which made his sudden appearance feel abrupt and unsatisfactory.

The ominous transmission announcing his return was not really explained in the film and it was also surprising to learn he had another powerful fleet of Sith Star Destroyers ready to conquer the galaxy. He felt like a lazy solution to introduce conflict into the last episode of the saga.

This deus ex machina sparked plenty of debate in the fandom with lots of commentators arguing it diminished Luke Skywalker’s role in bringing balance to the Force and deflated the emotional impact of his legacy.

Television

With shorter running times and episode format, television scripts might have to rely on improbable twists and coincidences that may seem forced to the audience. Key characters in zombie shows frequently escape death thanks to last-minute rescues by other characters, the protagonists in supernatural tales conveniently discover a spell or power that defeats a powerful enemy, and criminals inexplicably confess their wrongdoings to the investigators to resolve the case.

A good example of deus ex machina comes from the much-maligned final season of Game of Thrones during the Army of the Dead’s attack on Winterfell when Arya somehow manages to kill the Night King.

The Night King strolls into the Godswood to kill Bran. Theon charges at the antagonist and is swiftly killed. All is lost.

A few slow-motion moments later, Arya leaps into the frame and kills the Night King with a Valyrian steel dagger.

Even if you don’t know the story, it is clear from the clip her intervention is sudden, unexpected and unsatisfying. The battle is turned in one single ridiculous moment.

Videogames

An obvious example of an unearned “solution” to a conflict in videogames is the ending of Mass Effect 3 (2012). In this action role-playing game, we determine the gender, appearance, and personnel records of Commander Shepard before we take control of the character in their battle against the “incomprehensively powerful” Reapers who have invaded earth.

While a device called the Crucible is being built to destroy the baddies, you have to complete the main missions in the hope of convincing other species to join the alliance against the Reapers. You also need to find the Catalyst – the superweapon’s essential component.

It turns out the Catalyst is a “construct” – an artificial intelligence who created the Reapers and the energy behind the galactic purge. This is an entirely new concept introduced at the end of the final game in the trilogy. We were not made aware of the AI’s existence or its function in the narrative. And it suddenly gives the player different options to resolve the conflict.

The lengthy exposition about harvesting advanced civilisations, extinction cycles and restoring balanced is laboured and unconvincing. How has Shepard’s presence “altered the variables”, created “new… possibilities” and means the old solution “won’t work anymore”?

To help set up this unexpected twist, the game makers depict the AI as a computer-generated projection of the small child we meet at the start of the game and see getting into the ship before it is destroyed by the Reapers. Shepard is also haunted by the child in a dream, so the representation is not entirely new, but it feels horribly contrived.

Advertising

Some commercials use sudden and ridiculous twists to resolve conflicts. Unlike traditional storytelling, a deliberate deus ex machina can be very engaging in advertising narratives because the audience will appreciate the humour encoded in the message.

Perhaps the advertisement will feature a media studies teacher who is on the verge of nervous breakdown, but a bar of their favourite energy snack pops out of their bag and gives them an instant boost. Or a cartoonish superhero appears with an amazing cleaning product after a young child causes chaos in the kitchen by spilling thick clumps of food and a glass of juice across the floor.

In the following example for Go Compare from 2009, two characters discuss the impossibility of finding good car insurance:

The moustachioed opera singer comes out of nowhere to offer them a solution. Simple, effective and annoyingly memorable. The use of humour as a line of appeal is effective because it deflates a stressful activity into something the consumer feels they can do without fuss.

Conclusion

Dei ex machina rarely resonate with the audience because we value great storytelling that builds tension and makes us care about the characters. Unexpected and unearned resolutions undermine the integrity of the narrative and trivialise the struggles of the characters.

We have already seen how producers try to avoid the plot device by offering some sort of set-up earlier in the narrative. However, filmmaking is incredibly expensive and risky. Shooting schedules and tight budgets are always going to influence the final product. Sometimes, ideas simply don’t work, and you need divine intervention to solve the problem.