Piracy as a political act, a way to get rich or to end up in a virtual world: the cinema has been able to seize the middle of hackers to produce some films that have become cult.
Frantic keyboard noises, lines of code that follow one another and the reflection of the screen on the glasses, hacking is a classic motif of Hollywood cinema. Some directors have immersed themselves in the world of hackers to make thrillers in which the hero is not just a nerd in a hoodie. From spy scenes to computer robbery through pure science fiction, several films have managed to hold the spectator in suspense with more or less plausible scenarios. We also interviewed a real hacker to give us his opinion on the plausibility of these hacks.
Here are six films to discover on streaming platforms for an evening with the hackers.
Wargaming
Considered the first film of its kind, Wargaming launched the imagination of the hacker capable of anything with a keyboard in his hands. David Lightman is a teenager with a passion for computers and video games. While trying to hack into Protovision, the company that publishes his favorite video games, he inadvertently gains access to WOPR, the US military’s supercomputer, programmed to predict the potential consequences of nuclear war. With just a few clicks, he is one step away from bringing about the apocalypse.
Hackers
Hackers is a classic from the 1990s. Six young people with cool nicknames like “Acid Burn” or “Cereal Killer” use their computer skills for fun and then end up wanting to do ” fall the system “. In reality, their scheme is not so important, because Hackers is ultimately just a fun movie with a nice techno soundtrack and outfits that vacillate between fashion show and rave party. As for their motivation, it popularizes the anarchist aspect of the cybercriminal milieu.
Millenium: The men who didn’t like women
We leave the cliché for a thriller with Scandinavian origins, directed by one of the best modern filmmakers, David Fincher. Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a brilliant investigative journalist, is hired by one of Sweden’s most powerful industrialists, Henrik Vanger, to investigate the disappearance of his niece. Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a rebellious young hacker, but exceptional investigator on the web, will finally work with him to gather all the clues.
Between our talented pirate and the tenacious journalist, a fragile bond of trust will be forged as they follow the trail of several murders. A brutal and gripping film, it also allows us to understand how the web has become the best place to find the truth. Another adaptation made in 2009 is also recommended if you are captivated by crime films.
Unlocked
Unlocked is the worst scenario we can imagine if we were to steal our smartphone. This South Korean thriller tells the story of Na-Mi, an employee at a very dedicated start-up company who inadvertently loses her phone on the bus. She will be lucky enough to find it a few days later without knowing that it has in fact passed into the hands of Joon-Young. This dangerous hacker now has access to his whole life and will take advantage of it to exploit his personal data for criminal purposes.
tron
Tron is perhaps Proust’s madeleine of the first lovers of science fiction. The plot begins with a genius programmer named Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges), who we find running a video game arcade ever since his former employers, a tech company named Encom, stole his code. . While trying to hack Encom, Flynn is digitized by an artificial intelligence and ends up transferred to a cyberworld that looks like an 80s nightclub. There, he must overthrow the master of the program (through a video game fight ), recover his intellectual property and return to reality. The 2010 version is also entertaining and will be appreciated by fans of Daft Punk, the original soundtrack.
Ghost in the Shell
In 2029, in Japan, the computerization of society has grown to such an extent that it is possible to link one’s consciousness, the “ghost”, to the network. A cybercriminal, the “Puppet master”, infiltrates and manipulates human memories for political purposes. Section 9, a secret intervention unit, assigns its best agent, Major Kusanagi and her deputy Batou to stop the hacker. During their investigation, Kusanagi and Batou, both equipped with artificial bodies and limbs, question their own humanity. Again, the hacking is depicted as an act of commitment and will leave the viewer in awe of this anime and deep in thought after completing it.
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