Film Review: Anon

In the future, you’ll be able to see someone’s Facebook just by looking at them; offices will contain no objects, only imposing marble desks; and Madonna/Whore complexes will rule society, as women only exist to be emotionally distant mothers or naked, ever-writhing sexual partners. No, this isn’t Donald Trump’s mission statement, it’s Andrew Niccol’s Anon.

In case Black Mirror and endless millennial-shaming articles from The Guardian haven’t clued you in, society is too plugged into technology – and it’s only going to get worse. In Niccol’s world, biosynthetic implants mean that not only is every individual’s life recorded down to the millisecond – available for inspection and incrimination – but everyone’s personal information is also downloaded to a vast database known as ‘The Ether’.

Clive Owen plays Detective Sal Frieland, who spends his days analysing the personal footage of crime suspects – known as their ‘Mind’s Eye’ – and solving crimes. But when a series of shocking murders reveal that the Mind’s Eye of the victims has been altered to hide the killer’s identity, Sal’s investigation unearths a woman whose hacking skills have left her with no traceable identity (let’s say her code-name is Amanda Seyfried). Is she the murderer, a huge threat to the system, or both?

Niccol’s film is hyper-stylised; he uses cold grey palettes, a constant stream of digital information onscreen representing The Ether, and quick cuts and high-angled close-ups to convey the imposing, surveillance-heavy nature of the state. These stylistic flourishes are distracting and clichéd, but at least they make sense – a description that cannot be applied to the plot.

The script is riddled with deadpan absurdities delivered with the gravitas of philosophical treatise, such as, “I literally can’t believe my Mind’s Eye.” Meanwhile, Sal’s investigation focuses more on sleeping with Amanda Seyfried than questioning her, and there’s no clarification about the film’s mysteries or the characters’ motivations. Unplug me for this one, please.

2/5