In the alt - reality of Anon , everyone ’s brain is hooked up to a massive share meshwork and federal agency can see what you ’re date whenever they need . There ’s no literal offence but no privacy either . If you essay to keep your living to yourself , you ’re a major threat to society .
Written and directed by Andrew Niccol ( Gattaca ) , Anon is a gamey - construct fade of scifi crime drama . The primary character is Sal Frieland — roleplay with taken up surliness by Clive Owen — a police researcher with peculiar access to the Ether , a strong mindspace that attest in augment - reality overlay and memory board what people see over their entire lifetime . When he looks into thievery or tearing crime , the incidents can all be seen from multiple points - of - opinion from the great unwashed ’s middle . Even a baby ’s vision can be hijack to corroborate or puncture the veracity of a suspect ’s account .
The woman , played by Amanda Seyfried , is only ever referred to by the screenname Anon ; she becomes the main defendant in a drawstring of execution of elite and hefty men . When police get called into another , she ’s at the offence prospect . Sal gives following but she messes with his perceptions to get away . Political pressure sensation from above throw catching her a antecedency , because her technology could break the tyrannical transparency that cows people into respect . When Sal go hole-and-corner to attempt a bunco on Anon , things go horribly incorrect , sending his life in a downward volute .
Niccol ’s pic lean heavy on modality and quirk , building tenseness through its great cinematography and aesthetic designs . There ’s a retro find to the fashion , motorcar , and set dressing , and technology as we know it seemingly does n’t exist any longer in a world where everyone ’s at least a short bionic woman . Having computers in people ’s wit mean there are lots of silly first - person jibe and scenes where multitude gaze off into the mediate distance as they sail UI menus .
But the ideas at the core of Anon are interesting . It ’s a earthly concern where citizens ’ memory partake a porous membrane with their “ records”—which they can share with others — and the act of forcibly looking through someone else ’s eyes feels frighteningly trespassing . Abuse of access can let people mess up with others ’ perceptual experience to make them hallucinate , relive trauma , and rub out precious memories . One of the big questions Anon asks is how much do we depend on what we can see and commemorate to shape our sense of ego . I wanted more geographic expedition of the extrapolated uniqueness - side by side consequences but Niccol prioritizes the frustratingly mundane sex activity and violence of Anon ’s neo - noir secret plan beats . The ending result is a movie that find too proud of with its own cleverness to do anything more than glance at its philosophic stem .
Anon will start cyclosis on Netflix on May 4 .
Andrew NiccolNetflix
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